World's oldest man celebrated 112th birthday | Sakari Momoi was born on February 5 1903

Sakari Momoi was born on February 5 1903, the same year the Wright brothers made their first powered flight. A Japanese man recognised as the oldest living man celebrated his 112th birthday on Thursday.

Mr Momoi, a former teacher from Fukushima province, won the Guinness Book of World Records title of world's oldest man after American Alexander Imich died in June 2014 aged 111 years and 124 days.

Mr Momoi, who was married and has five children, now lives in a hospital in Tokyo, and reportedly enjoys reading Chinese poetry.

He was 42 years old when the Second World War ended and 66 years old when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

The oldest living woman – and currently the oldest living person in the world, according to Guinness – is Misao Okawa, also from Japan, who was born on March 5 1898 in Osaka.

The oldest person to have ever lived is Jeanne Calment from France, who lived to 122 years and 164 days.

Another Japanese man, Jiroemon Kimura, reached the oldest age on record for a man. He was born in 1897 and died in June 2013 aged 116 years and 54 days.

Craig Glenday from Guinness World Records said: "To put Mr Momoi’s age into perspective, he was born before the Wright brothers made their first powered flight, before Henry Ford produced his first car, and before the birth of author George Orwell.”

What has happened in Mr Momoi’s lifetime?

1912 RMS Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage
1914-1918 First World War
1929 Wall Street Crash
1936 Abdication of King Edward VIII
1939-1945 Second World War
1945 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1953 First ascent of Mount Everest
1967 First human heart transplant
1969 Neil Armstrong become the first human to walk on the moon
1973 First mobile telephone call
1977 Death of Elvis Presley
1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall
1947-1991 The Cold War
1999 Introduction of the euro single currency
2001 September 11 attacks in New York

[Source]