However, a coronavirus-related lockdown imposed by the South African government reportedly meant Fredie Blom was unable to buy tobacco to roll his own cigarettes on his 116th birthday.
His family said he died of natural causes in Cape Town on August 22.
“Two weeks ago oupa [grandfather] was still chopping wood,” family spokesman Andre Naidoo told AFP news agency.
“He was a strong man, full of pride.”
But within days Fredie Blom shrank “from a big man to a small person”, he added.
Andre Naidoo said the family did not believe his death was related to Covid-19.
Auschwitz death camp survivor Yisrael Kristal has become the world’s oldest man, the Guinness World Records organization says.
Yisrael Kristal was born near Zarnow in Poland in 1903 and lived through two world wars before moving to Haifa, Israel.
He was 112 years and 178 days old on 11 March, Guinness World Records says.
The previous oldest-recorded man, Yasutaro Koide of Japan, died in January aged 112 years and 312 days.
As he received his Guinness World Records certificate, Yisrael Kristal said he did not know the “secret for long life” and that he believed everything was “determined from above”.
“There have been smarter, stronger and better looking men then me who are no longer alive,” he added.
“All that is left for us to do is to keep on working as hard as we can and rebuild what is lost.”
The son of a religious scholar, Yisrael Kristal was separated from his parents during World War One. He later moved to Lodz to work in the family confectionery business.
After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, Yisrael Kristal and his family were moved into the Lodz ghetto.
His two children died there and Yisrael Kristal and his wife Chaja Feige Frucht were sent to Auschwitz in 1944 after the ghetto was liquidated, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Yisrael Kristal’s wife was murdered in Auschwitz but he survived, performing slave labor in that and other camps. When he was found by the Allies in May 1945 he weighed just 81.5 lbs.
The sole survivor from his family, Yisrael Kristal emigrated to Israel in 1950 with his second wife and their son, where he continued to run his confectionery business until his retirement.
Yisrael Kristal’s daughter, Shula Kuperstoch, said the Holocaust had not affected her father’s beliefs.
“He is optimistic, wise, and he values what he has,” she told the Jerusalem Post.
The oldest person alive today is believed to be an American woman, Susannah Mushatt Jones, who is 115 years and 249 days.
The oldest person ever to have lived is thought to be Jeanne Calment from France, who died aged 122 years and 164 days.
Nearly 5,000 students in the southern Indian city of Bangalore have set a new Guinness world record for “the largest gathering of people dressed as Mohandas Gandhi”.
The 4,605 children between the ages of 6 and 14 dressed in traditional white dhotis came dressed in spectacles, fake moustaches and skull caps and carried bamboo sticks.
They assembled for four hours at Bangalore’s Kanteerva Stadium for Guinness adjudicators to count and verify the numbers.
The record had been previously held by a school in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma (Great Soul), was India’s greatest leader who fought for the country’s independence from British rule and for the rights of the poor.
Utah balloon maestro Jeremy Telford has broken the world record for the largest balloon structure created by an individual.
The balloon dog, on display in Utah, measured 65ft long and 32ft tall, which a Guinness World Record official said “blew the old record out of the water”.
The giant pink dog creation took over 15 days and used up nearly 9,000 balloons.
Jeremy Telford built it without a support sculpture so the rubber pooch is not free-standing.
Jeremy Telford has also built a Lord of the Rings-inspired model of Bilbo Baggins’ Bag End and the Seven Wonders of the World.
A group of surfers in Southern California have broken the world record for the most people riding a wave on a surfboard at the same time on June 20.
Sixty-six people, including surf champions and local heroes, rode a 42ft surfboard for 12 seconds to break the record at Huntington Beach south of Los Angeles.
Around 5,000 people watched from the coast, the Orange County Register reported.
Guinness World Record adjudicator Michael Empric said a separate record for whether the 1,300-pound board is the world’s largest will take a few days to determine.
The record was previously held by a group of 47 surfers in the Australian state of Queensland.
Gangnam Style, the dance track by South Korean pop phenomenon Psy, has become YouTube’s most-watched video of all time.
Gangnam Style has notched up more than 808 million views since it was posted in July.
The video pokes fun at the consumerism of Gangnam, an affluent suburb of the South Korean capital Seoul.
In the video, the portly Psy, 34, dances as though he is trotting on a horse, holding the reins and spinning a lasso in a manner that has sparked a global dance craze.
The video also features Psy reclining on a sun lounger in tight pink shorts, gazing longingly at a girl dancing on an underground train in tight shorts and gesticulating at a woman working out on a beach – in tight shorts.
Gangnam Style dance has sparked numerous copycat versions, being performed by a diverse fan-base including Filipino prison inmates, prominent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a Chinese robot.
Gangnam Style, the dance track by South Korean pop phenomenon Psy, has become YouTube’s most-watched video of all time
Popular parodies include one performed by Eton College schoolboys and another in the Star Trek language Klingon.
Gangnam Style, which won best video at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards, has also been number one in 28 countries.
It holds the Guinness World Record for the most “liked” song ever – currently with a little under 5.4 million likes on YouTube.
Previously, Justin Bieber’s 2010 teenybopper hit Baby held the record for the most YouTube views.
Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun was the first person in the US to tweet a link to the Gangnam Style video.
Indian couple Karam, 107, and his wife Katari Chand, 100, who have eight children and twenty eight grandchildren together, have lived in wedded bliss for 87 years making them the world’s longest married couple.
Karam and Katari Chand say that the key to success is looking after each other in every way possible.
“My trick is to make Katari laugh. I like to tell jokes and make her smile. Being funny is my way of being romantic,” says Karam Chand.
“I have been told laughing makes you live longer… my wife is still alive so it must have worked! I love her so much and I want to spend another 80 years by her side,” he added.
From romantic meals to sharing jokes, the couple, who hail from Punjab, India and now live in Bradford, UK, ensure that they do little things for each other to keep the romance alive.
Katari Chand told romantic networking site Zoosk.co.uk: “When I was young I used to make him a nice fresh meal every night. We are vegetarian so I brought lots of fresh vegetables and made sure he was eating healthy food.
“Health is very important and I wanted to look after him so we could grow old together. Some would say it has worked!
“Oh and how can I forget, I always save a bit of my chapatti for him. Just a little gesture that he appreciated a lot and it kept me a bit slimmer.”
Karam Chand, who likes to do a word search every day to keep his mind alive, believes that spending plenty of time together has helped their marriage last.
“We have not spent any long span apart in over 50 years. We go everywhere together – up until a few years ago we went to India every year with the family and for all family weddings we make sure we get to stay together,” he said.
Their marriage has lasted nearly five years longer than that of the current Guinness World Record holders and the couple is in the process of getting confirmation from the company that they will be named as the new record holders.
Many modern day romances fail to stand the test of time but longevity and experience makes Karam Chand the best man to go to for relationship advice.
“In the past people used to listen. Now I don’t think people take the time to listen to each other properly. People seem too busy today with work, TV and other stuff going on around them.
“Relationships are about understanding one another and listening to concerns and problems, so my advice to men and women is to listen to their partners, show interest in what they are saying and help them overcome any worries or problems they are going through,” he said.
And their son Satpaul, who is extremely proud of his parent’s relationship, added his own words of wisdom.
He said: “One piece of advice that I can’t stress enough is to keep your parents very close. We live with them in Bradford and look after them because we want to help them live as long as they can together.
“I don’t want to see their love story end. I truly believe that by helping them over the last few years we have enabled them to enjoy their time together with no stress and being looked after.
“Also, you have to value them while they are here because you never know how long they are going to be around for.”
The still loved-up couple, who met through an arranged marriage, are having a big party in November to celebrate Karam’s 107th and Katari’s 100th birthday. The Mayor of Bradford as well as lots of community members will be joining in the festivities.
Karam and Katari Chand have lived in wedded bliss for 87 years making them the world’s longest married couple
Karam and Katari Chand’s top five tips to keeping the romance alive
• Always be faithful: always be faithful to one another. When you get married you commit to devoting your life to that person and even when the times are tough, don’t believe that the grass is greener…because it isn’t.
• Look after each other as best you can: if you want to grow old with your partner you have to make sure you always look after each other in every shape and form. Whether it is making a meal, holding your partners hand when crossing the road or being a shoulder to cry on when something goes wrong.
• Be tolerant of each other: everyone has bad habits or annoying traits. Whether it is leaving a towel on the floor or listening to the radio too loudly, you have to tolerate each other and realize that no one is perfect. Of course we irritate each other occasionally, but if you want to last nearly 90 years, learn to love bad habits or it won’t work.
• Listen to each other: the most important thing in a relationship is to listen. People don’t listen anymore because they are too busy with work and TV. Listen to your loved ones’ problems and concerns every day, because then you can help them overcome them and be happier. Also, it brings you closer together because you are the first port of call for each other when there is an issue in your life.
• Follow social and religious values: always make sure you follow social or religious values. Respect, care, cherish, love and value your partner – always treat them how you would want to be treated yourself.
Alicia Richman, a North Texas mother, has been awarded a Guinness World Record for donating breast milk.
Alicia Richman, 28, from Granbury, pumped over 86 gallons between June 2011 and March 2012 for donation to The Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas, a nonprofit that supplies neonatal intensive care units.
The vast quantity equates to 11,000 oz – to put it into context, a typical newborn’s feed is around 3oz.
Alicia Richman told CBS DFW: “I pumped at work, on vacations, in the car. And I never had to buy formula.”
She began donating shortly after giving birth to her son, now 19 months, when she found that she had managed to fill two freezers with pumped milk – far more than he would ever need.
Alicia Richman decided to put her extraordinary ability to good use and help premature and critically ill babies who could benefit from the nourishment human breast milk can provide over formula.
“I feel like God blessed me with plenty of milk and I need to do something special with it,” she said.
“There’s a need for it, little babies everywhere are sick and they need breast milk to survive, and I wanted to give them that.”
Alicia Richman began donating breast milk shortly after giving birth to her son, now 19 months
Director of The Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas, Amy Vickers, told the TV network: “Three ounces of donor human milk could be as much as nine feedings for a premature baby.”
Alicia Richman, who exceeded that existing record by 23 gallons, plans to try to beat her own record when she has a second child.
She has also challenged other mothers to attempt to beat it too, in the hope that more women will donate to breast milk banks.
These are the 10 most expensive burgers in the world; culinary works of gastronomic excellence with an astronomical price tag to match.
Eight of the patties can be found in upmarket restaurants in the U.S., while a ninth is on offer in London and a tenth in Indonesia. One of them even comes with a diamond-encrusted solid gold toothpick.
However – with the cheapest on sale for $155 and the most expensive being offered for $5,000 – it’s debatable whether your average burger-loving diner will ever be wealthy enough to sample the delights of these dishes.
The most expensive on the list is the FleurBurger 5000, at Fleur de Lys in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, which costs a whopping $5,000.
Containing foie gras and a special truffle sauce, it is served on a brioche truffle bun with black truffles on the side and comes with a bottle of Chateau Petrus 1990, poured in Ichendorf Brunello stemware.
And the $777 Kobe Beef and Maine Lobster Burger from Le Burger Brasserie in Paris Las Vegas, Nevada, consists of Kobe beef and fresh Maine lobster, caramelised onions, imported brie cheese, prosciutto, 100-year aged balsamic vinegar. It is served with a bottle of Rose Dom Perignon champagne.
It’s class all the way for the “666” burger in New York. With a price tag of $666, the foie gras-stuffed Kobe patty is topped with gruyere cheese that has been melted with champagne steam, lobster, truffles, caviar, and a BBQ sauce made with Kopi Luwak coffee beans.
Some might say the $499 Absolutely Ridiculous Burger, from Mallie’s Sports Bar & Grill in Southgate, Michigan, is precisely that.
Not only is it one of the most expensive, the 185.6 lbs burger also holds the Guinness World Record holder for being the world’s largest.
If you’re wary of parting with $295 for the Serendipity Burger from New York’s Serendipity 3 restaurant, fret not – the meal even comes with its very own diamond-encrusted solid gold toothpick.
The patty of Japanese Waygu beef is infused with ten herb white truffle butter, seasoned with Salish Alderwood smoked Pacific sea salt, topped with cheddar cheese hand-formed by James Montgomery in Somerset, England, and 18-month “cave-aged” shaved black truffles.
A fried quail egg, a white truffle-buttered Campagna Roll – itself, topped with blini, creme fraiche, and Paramout Caviar’s exclusive Kaluga caviar – finishes the dish.
Celebrated chef Hubert Keller has created the world’s most expensive burger for his Fleur de Lys restaurant at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
London’s offering to this list is the $200 meal from One Burger King restaurant. Wagyu beef, white truffles, Pata Negra ham slices, Cristal onion straws is joined with Modena balsamic vinegar, lambs lettuce, pink Himalayan rock salt, organic white wine and shallot infused mayonnaise in an Iranian saffron and white truffle dusted bun.
The $175 Richard Nouveau Burger, at the Wall Street Burger Shoppe in New York, is topped with real gold flakes, 25 grams of black truffles, a seared slab of foie gras and aged Gruyere.
The $120 DB Royale Double Truffle Burger, on sale at New York’s B Bistro and the Daniel Boulud Brasserie in Las Vegas, is stuffed with red wine-braised short ribs – off the bone – foie gras, a mix of root vegetables and preserved black truffle.
Indonesia’s Million Rupiah Hamburger, served at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta, earns its place in the top ten with the $108 patty topped with foie gras, portobello mushrooms and Korean pears.
At a mere $100, McGuire’s Grand Burger, from McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola, Florida, is the least expensive patty on the list. It boasts a filet mignon and is served with Moet and Chandon white star champagne.
Hundreds of swimmers have braved the cold of the Northumberland coast in an attempt at a record-breaking skinny dip.
Despite more than 200 naked people running into the 12 C sea at Druridge Bay at sunrise, they failed to break the world record.
Organizer Jacqueline Higginson said the event was still a “lot of fun”.
The North East Skinny Dip was organized to held to raise money for mental health charity Mind.
Hundreds of swimmers have braved the cold of the Northumberland coast in an attempt at a record-breaking skinny dip
Jacqueline Higginson, 34, from Whitburn, took part in a previous Guinness World record dip last year in south-west Wales.
She said: “Today loads of us ran naked into the sea to raise money for Mind and to celebrate ourselves and our bodies.
“I did a skinny dip last year where we broke the world record, I don’t think there was enough to do it today but there was enough of us for it to be a lot of fun.”
The National Trust, which owns the section of beach the swimmers used, gave permission for the event to take place.
The air temperature in the area was reported to be 5.5 C at sunrise.
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