Oldest Person Dies

Jeanne Calment, who credited an occasional glass of Port wine and a diet rich in olive oil for making her the world’s oldest person, died Monday at age 122. Officials in Arles, France, gave no precise cause of death. Calment, who was 14 when the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, died at a retirement home where she had spent the past 12 years. “Her birthdays were a sort of family holiday, where all the people of Arles gathered around their big sister,” said Michel Vauzelle, the deputy mayor of Arles. Born Feb. 21, 1875, Calment was listed in “The Guinness Book of World Records” as the oldest living person whose birth date could be authenticated by reliable records.