Dhaqabo Ebba, a former farmer in Ethiopia, says he is 160 years old, which would make him the oldest person in recorded history, but there is no birth certificate that proves his claim.
He made a statement to Oromiya TV, and he made references to local history. A reporter with the television station was so impressed that he believed the farmer is actually 160, according to the Huffington Post.
“When Italy invaded Ethiopia I had two wives,and my son was old enough to herd cattle,” Ebba said, according to a translator, reported the BBC.
If his claim is true, he would be the oldest person in recorded history--46 years older than the oldest recorded man.
The reporter with Oromiya TV, Mohammed Aemo, told the BBC that “every time an elder dies, a library is lost. Ebba is one such library from whom so much can still be preserved.”
Ebba seemed to note that it would be impossible to verify his age. “Not even one of my peers is alive today,” he said, according to AllAfrica.com. He said that in his time, it took eight days to go from his hometown, Dodola, to the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Guinness World Book of Records says that Jeanne Calment of France was the oldest living person ever. She lived to be 122 years old and 164 days.
