Jeanne Calment didn’t just live a long life—she shattered the boundaries of human longevity. When she passed away in 1997 at the remarkable age of 122, she left the world asking a simple question: how? Especially considering her love for chocolate, cigarettes, and a glass of wine or two, her life seemed to defy everything we think we know about health. Experts now point to an unexpected factor: her mindset.
A Life Spanning More Than a Century
Born in 1875 in Arles, France, Calment witnessed history unfold in ways few of us can imagine. She lived through two world wars, the rise of cars and airplanes, the birth of cinema and television, and even the dawn of the internet. Every era she touched—from the Eiffel Tower’s construction to the American civil rights movement—was something she experienced firsthand. Her age is one of the most rigorously verified in human history, backed by census records, birth certificates, and decades of documentation.
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