PA Media
John Tinniswood said he was quite active in his younger years.
The world’s oldest man said he has no “special secrets” to share about his longevity as he celebrates his 112th birthday.
John Tinniswood, who was born in Liverpool on August 26, 1912, told Guinness World Records he had “no idea” how he had lived so long.
A lifelong Liverpool fan living in a care home in Southport became the world’s oldest living man following the death of 114-year-old Juan Vicente Pérez Mora in April.
Although he was “quite active when I was younger” and “walked a lot,” he said he didn’t see himself as “any different to anyone else,” adding that “you’re either going to live a long life or you’re going to live a short life and there’s not much you can do about it.”
Ms Tinniswood, who was born the year the Titanic sank, said she was “embracing turning 112 without incident, just like anything else”.
“I have no idea how I’ve lived this long,” he says. “I don’t think I have any special secret.”
“I was very active when I was younger and walked a lot, so I don’t know if that had anything to do with it.”
“But for me, it makes no difference. Absolutely no difference.”
Family photo
Mrs Tinniswood met his wife Blodwen at a dance in Liverpool and they married in 1942.
Tinniswood was born 20 years after his favourite football club, Liverpool, was founded and, although he missed out on their first two league titles in 1901 and 1906, he has experienced all but two of the 66 top flight trophies won by Liverpool.
He was two years old when World War I broke out and had just turned 27 when World War II began.
He served as an administrator in the Army Pay Corps, locating stranded soldiers and organizing food supplies, and is now the world’s oldest surviving male World War II veteran.
He met his wife Blodwen at a dance in Liverpool and married her in 1942.
Their daughter Susan was born in 1943 and the couple spent 44 years together until Mrs. Tinniswood’s death in 1986.
After World War II he worked as an accountant for Shell and BP, retiring in 1972.
PA Media
Mr Tinniswood survived two world wars.
He said he follows no special rules apart from eating fish and chips every Friday.
“I eat what they give me, and so does everyone else,” he said. “I’m not on any special diet.”
Since turning 100 in 2012, he has received a birthday card from a monarch every year, first from the late Queen Elizabeth II, who was nearly 14 years younger than him, and then from King Charles III.
When asked if he thought the world had changed much since he was a child, he replied, “In my opinion, the world is no better than it was back then, or not much better.”
“Maybe in some areas, but in other areas it’s much worse,” he added.
The oldest man in history was Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who lived for 116 years and 54 days and died in 2013.
The oldest woman and the oldest person in the world is 116-year-old Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka.
