Random People Who Did Great Things After Fifty (20 items)

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  (#13) Theodor Mommsen

  • Dec. at 86 (1817-1903)

  Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, archaeologist, and writer, generally regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902 for being "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing," with special reference to his monumental work, A History of Rome.
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  (#6) Grandma Moses

  • Dec. at 101 (1860-1961)

  Grandma Moses, the spry, indomitable "genuine American primitive" who became one of the country's most famous painters turned out her first painting at the age of 76. She took up painting because arthritis had crippled her hands so that she no longer could embroider.

  Later, her art was hanging at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
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  (#7) Colonel Sanders

  • Dec. at 90 (1890-1980)

  Colonel Sanders was 65 years old when he received his first Social Security check. It was then that he made a decision that he needed to change his life. With his chicken recipe, he took action and traveled the nation until someone took a chance on him, and Kentucky Fried Chicken was born.
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  (#11) Benjamin Franklin

  • Dec. at 84 (1706-1790)

  Benjamin Franklin helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence, and in 1776, at the age of 70, he was the oldest person to sign the document. At age 81, Franklin signed the Constitution of the United States of America.
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  (#15) Nelson Mandela

  • Dec. at 95 (1918-2013)

  Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in 1993, serving one term in office. He was the first non-white head of state in South Africa's history, as well as the first to take office following the dismantling of apartheid and the introduction of multiracial democracy.

  He was also the oldest head of state in South Africa's history, taking office at the age of 75.
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  (#16) Christopher Plummer

  • 89

  Prior to Plummer's win, the oldest person to win an Oscar was Jessica Tandy, who won for Driving Miss Daisy at the age of 80. But Plummer took the title in 2010, when he won the Best Supporting Actor award for his work opposite Ewan McGregor in the film Beginners.

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