Happy birthday! World's oldest living person turns 117
One of Ethel's sisters also lived beyond 100 years old!
- Published
The world's oldest living person has turned 117!
Ethel Caterham was born on 21 August 1909 and is the first British person ever to reach this age, according to Guinness World Records.
She is currently the 13th-oldest verified person in history. She would have to live for more than another five years to break the record for the oldest person ever.
That record is held by Jeanne Calment from France, who lived to the age of 122 years and 164 days.
Keep reading to see what historic events Ethel has lived through!
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1912: The sinking of the Titanic
Ethel was two years old when the ship sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 1912.
1914-1918: World War I
Ethel was four years old when Britain declared War on Germany on 4 August 1914. She turned five just over two weeks later.
By the time the war ended on 11 November 1918, Ethel was nine years old.
1918: Women able to vote for the first time
When Ethel was born, women could not vote in UK parliamentary elections.
In 1918, Parliament passed a law giving some women aged 30 and over the right to vote.
In 1928, when Ethel was 18, the law changed again. Women were allowed to vote from the age of 21 on the same terms as men.
1928: Penicillin discovered
When Ethel was born, modern antibiotics were not available to treat infections.
When she was 19, scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.
Other scientists later helped turn penicillin into a medicine that could be widely used during the 1940s, when Ethel was in her 30s.
Ethel saw the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
1936: BBC launches regular TV service
When Ethel was a child, there was no regular television service to watch at home.
She was 27 when the BBC launched the world's first regular television service on 2 November 1936.
1939-1945: World War II
Ethel was 30 when Britain entered World War II in September 1939.
She was 35 when the war ended in Europe in May 1945 and 36 when the war ended worldwide.
1953: Elizabeth II becomes Queen
Ethel was 42 when Elizabeth II became Queen in February 1952.
Ethel lived through Queen Elizabeth II's entire 70-year reign.
1969: Humans land on the Moon
At 59-years-old, Ethel would've been able to witness the first humans step foot on the Moon.
Computers looked very different in the 80s
1973: The first mobile phone was developed
Can you imagine a world without mobile phones? Ethel had already lived for more than 60 years when the first call from a handheld mobile phone was made in 1973.
While the first mobile phone was invented in 1973, they didn't go on sale until 1983.
Early mobile phones were much larger and weren't affordable for a lot of people.
1989: World Wide Web launched
Ethel was 79 when British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee first came up with the World Wide Web in March 1989.
The first website was working by the end of 1990, before the Web began spreading around the world.
1998: Google is born
Yep that's right. People had the world wide web, but not Google until September 1998 when Ethel would've been 89!
Other search engines existed before Google, but Google later became one of the best-known ways to search the Web.
2001: 9/11 attacks
Ethel was 92 during an attack on the United States on 11 September 2001.
2007: First iPhone released
Apple released its first iPhone in June 2007 when Ethel was 97.
2012: Curiosity Rover lands on Mars
Ethel was already over the age of 100 when Nasa's Curiosity rover landed on Mars in August 2012.
Curiosity was the fourth rover that Nasa successfully landed on the planet.
2020: Covid-19 pandemic
Ethel was 110 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
She caught Covid-19 that year and recovered.
2022: Charles III becomes King
Ethel was 113 when Charles III became King in September 2022.
King Charles visited Ethel on 18 September 2025, four weeks after her 116th birthday.