World's oldest person celebrates 116th birthday in UK

London: The world s oldest person, British woman Ethel Caterham, turned 116 on Thursday, months after the title passed to her following the death of B...

London: The world's oldest person, British woman Ethel Caterham, turned 116 on Thursday, months after the title passed to her following the death of Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas.

Caterham was due to mark the occasion quietly with her family, taking the day "at her own pace", the care home where she lives said.

The title of the oldest person ever is held by French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days before her death in 1997, according to Guinness World Records.

Caterham was born on August 21, 1909, in the village of Shipton Bellinger in southwestern England, five years before the start of World War I.

She is now the oldest person in the world according to the US-based Gerontological Research Group (GRG) and the LongeviQuest database, after the death of 116-year-old Canabarro in April.