JOIN USA 115-year-old woman in US has been crowned the oldest person in the world, after previous record holder from Georgia passed away at the age of 116 earlier this week.
At 115 years and 245 days, Dina Manfredini of the Des Moines, Iowa, inherited the title after Besse Cooper of Georgia passed away.
Manfredini, a mother of four, was born in Italy on April 4, 1897. She came to the US when she was just 23 years old with her late husband in 1920, the 'New York Daily News' reported.
"I'm old, old lady, but I work. Work hard. I like work,” Manfredini told The Des Moines Register back in 2004, when she moved into a nursing home at age 110.
The elderly woman, who has lived during three different centuries, held a wide range of jobs in her early years, from cracking eggs at a food-processing plant to filling shells with gunpowder on an assembly line during World War II. She also cleaned homes on the side until she was 90 years old.
"You know, she worked all her life and she did everything in moderation," her daughter told WHO-TV of the secret to her mother's longevity in April, when the family celebrated Manfredini's 115th birthday.
Manfredini currently lives at the Bishop Drumm Retirement Center in Johnston. Though her hearing is poor, she is relatively healthy and can move around with the help of a walker.
"She's our special gift," her daughter, Enes Logli, said.
Around 70 people in the world are known to be 110 years old or more, the report said.
However, the Gerontology Research Group, which verified Manfredini's age, believes that the number is even higher, with perhaps 300 to 450 "supercentenarians" currently living.