Misao Okawa blew out the candles of her birthday cake on Wednesday and became the world's oldest person at the ripe old age of 116.
The daughter of a kimono maker, Okawa was born in Osaka, Japan, on March 5, 1898 — a year when Queen Victoria sat on the British throne, New York added surrounding counties that would become the five famous boroughs, and the Philippines declared independence.
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Okama is one of only five people alive born in the 19th century, and all five are women. Okawa assumed the title of the oldest person in the world after Jireomon Kimura of Japan died in June 2013 at the age of 116.
Okawa is a mother of three, two of whom are still alive and in their 90s. She also has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She told The Telegraph that marrying her husband, Yukic Okawa, in 1919, was one of the happiest moments of her long life. One of the worst moments: losing him 12 years later in 1931.

Japan's 114-year-old Misao Okawa, center, poses with her 2-month-old great-grandson Hibiki Okawa along with the Guinness World Records certificate at a nursing home in Osaka, western Japan, on Feb. 27, 2013.
Image: Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press
It comes as no surprise to experts that Okawa, the newest record holder, hails from Japan. The country is home to 54,397 centenarians, including 282 people who have reached the age of 110, known as "super-centenarians." Furthermore, 87% of those Japanese centenarians were women.
Experts often point to Japan's healthy, low-fat diet and affordable health care with government-sponsored senior exercise programs as reasons for the increased lifespans. Okawa's recommends everyone learn to relax; she told The Telegraph that simply eating and sleeping, "you will live a long time."
Her meal of choice is sushi — in particular, mackerel on vinegar-steamed rice — at least once a month, said Tomohito Okada, the head of the retirement home where Okawa has lived for the past 18 years.
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