World’s Oldest Living Person rings in her 116th birthday

Today marks a milestone for a Georgia woman who celebrated her birthday for a remarkable 116th time.

According to a report from Guinness World Records, Besse Cooper originally earned the title in January 2011, but lost it a short time later after a Brazilian woman was certified as the new record holder. The Brazilian woman,Maria Gomes Valentin, was only 48 days older than Cooper. Valentin died a few months later, eventually leading up to Cooper beingreinstated for the record title of “World’s Oldest Living Person.”

Originally from Tennessee, Cooper moved to Georgia in 1917 looking to earn better wages as a teacher. It was here that she met her husband and the two married in 1924, eventually having four children together.

In addition to being one of the elite super centenarians of our time, on Friday Besse Cooper earned the honor of having a local bridge named after her. Politicians and officials from Georgia’s Walton County attended a special ribbon cutting ceremony in honor of a New Hope Church Road bridge which opened in the namesake of the school teacher who taught at the nearby Between school decades before.

For more, check out the Strange News article here