The longest life ever authenticated was Jeanne Calment of France, who lived to be more than 122 and died in 1997. There doesn’t appear to be anything remarkable in her diet, exercise routine, or other lifestyle details, at least nothing that would suggest a life span longer than anyone else’s. Jeanne enjoyed desserts. She smoked two cigarettes a day from the age of 21 to 117. (Why she quit at 117 is not clear. Of course, quitting can be difficult—maybe it just took her that long.)
