World's oldest man celebrates his 112th birthday - and shares reason for long life
26 August 2024, 11:36 | Updated: 26 August 2024, 21:00
Today the world's oldest living man has turned 112 at his care home in Merseyside.
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John Alfred Tinniswood lives in Southport and attributes his lengthy life to "just luck".
"I can't think of any special secrets I have," he said.
"I was quite active as a youngster, I did a lot of walking. Whether that had something to do with it, I don't know. But to me, I'm no different [to anyone]. No different at all.
"I just take it in my stride like anything else, why I've lived that long I have no idea at all."
He says he did not follow a specific diet, apart from eating fish and chips every Friday.
He worked in an administrative role for the Royal Army Pay Corps, where his work involved logistical tasks such as locating stranded soldiers and organising food supplies as well as accounting and auditing.
After leaving the army he worked as an accountant for Shell and BP, before retiring in 1972.
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Tinniswood was born in 1912, which is the same year that the Titanic famously sunk.
Earlier this year he inherited the title of the world's oldest living man from 114-year-old Juan Vicente Pérez, from Venezuela, who died in April.
He already held the title of the UK's oldest man, which he gained in 2020.
As a lifelong Liverpool football fan, Tinniswood was born in the city just twenty years after the club was set up.
He has lived through nearly all of the club's highs and lows, including all eight of the Reds' FA Cup wins and the majority of their league victories.
He met his wife Blodwen at a dance in Liverpool and enjoyed 44 years of marriage before her death in 1986.
Their daughter Susan was born in 1943.
Tinniswood also has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
