A centenarian is a person who has achieved a hundred or more years of life. Throughout most of human history, it was very rare for people to reach such a great age, because of recurrent famine, war, droughts, plagues and the other afflictions accompanying history. A few people made it to a century in age, through luck and privilege, mostly. 

In the 21^st century worldwide there are more than 300,000 people who have made it to the century mark. That means they survived much of their lives in a world without antibiotics and with little knowledge of viruses. But they have lived their lives in a world that equated public health with clean water, efficient sewage and breathable air. 

This large number of centenarians is a huge achievement, and probably equals the total of all centenarians everywhere throughout the whole of human history before current centenarians were born. 

About one in a thousand centenarians will become a super-centenarian, living to a hundred and ten. Several dozen people have made it to 115, and Jean Calment, a Frenchwoman, made it to 122 164 days. There is some tentative evidence that centenarians share a few characteristics. These include a caring community, a low-stress lifestyle, a diet light in meat, eggs and dairy, high levels of activity in old age, and spirituality.

At age 90, Jeanne signed a deal that sold her apartment in return for the right to live there for the rest of her life and 2,500 francs a month. She lived 30 more years.

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