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

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  (#1) Gladys Burrill Ran a Marathon, at Age 92

  Burrill earned the Guinness Book of World Records record as the oldest female to complete a marathon. At age 92, she finished the race, which took place in Honolulu, in nine hours, 53 minutes and 16 seconds. It was her fifth Honolulu finish in seven years.
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  (#2) Teiichi Igarashi Climbed Mt. Fuji, at Age 100

  In 1987, Teiichi Igarashi, a former lumberjack who had been climbing Mt. Fuji every year since he was 89 years old, became the first centenarian to climb Japan's tallest mountain. Igarashi attributed his accomplishment to eating raw eggs and all the encouragement he received from his supporters.
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  (#3) William Ivy Baldwin Tightrope Walked Across a Canyon, at Age 82

  On July 31, 1948, his 82nd birthday, tightrope walker William Ivy Baldwin did his last walk over a canyon in Eldorado Springs in Colorado. He made his first walk there in 1907 and did it 88 times until his final endeavor.

  Baldwin’s daughter strung a special wire for his final walk.
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  (#4) John Glenn

  • 97

  The first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn made history again when, at the age of 77, he became the oldest person to travel in space. He rode the space shuttle Discovery, and, over the course of nine days, the shuttle orbited Earth 134 times. 

  Glenn served as payload specialist, participating in various experiments to test how his 77-year-old body responded to the weightless environment.
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  (#5) Diana Nyad

  • 69

  In 2013, on her fifth attempt and at age 64, Diana Nyad became the first person confirmed to swim from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark cage. The journey was 110 miles long and took her 53 hours straight.
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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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  (#8) Dorothy Davenhill Hirsch Went to The North Pole, at Age 89

  In 1980, Davenhill (a former soldier), along with her husband and daughters, began extensive world travels. In August 2004, at age 89, she reached the North Pole and was designated by by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest person to reach the remote destination.
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  (#9) Peter Roget

  • Dec. at 90 (1779-1869)

  Peter Roget began keeping lists of words as a young man, but didn’t publish the thesaurus until he was 73. His collection of synonyms and antonyms was not the first to appear, but his was far better organized than others’ previous efforts.
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  (#10) Noah Webster

  • Dec. at 85 (1758-1843)

  Noah Webster was a lexicographer and a language reformer. He is often called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education." It took 28 years to complete the dictionary, and he finally published it at the age of 70.
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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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  (#12) Momofuku Ando

  • Dec. at 97 (1910-2007)

  Ando was a Taiwanese-Japanese businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd., becoming one of the inventors of instant noodles, instant ramen, and Cup Noodles. His invention of Cup Noodles in 1971, at the age of 61, helped spark the popularity of instant noodles overseas by introducing the idea of the now ubiquitous Styrofoam cup.
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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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  (#14) Oscar Swahn

  • Dec. at 80 (1847-1927)

  At the age of 72, Swahn became the oldest person to compete in the 1920 Summer Olympics. His best results were in the team competitions: a fourth place in the single shot running deer event, and a second place in the double shot running deer contest.

  With this silver medal, he became the oldest medalist of all time.
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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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  (#17) Paul Cézanne

  • Dec. at 67 (1839-1906)

  Artist Paul Cézanne was 56 years old when Ambroise Vollard gave him his first one-man show at Vollard's gallery in Paris. Although the exhibition met with some skepticism, Cézanne's reputation as a great artist grew quickly.

  It wasn't until after he died that other exhibitions in Paris established his artistic legacy.
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  (#18) Julia Child

  • Dec. at 92 (1912-2004)

  When Julia Child was promoting her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking on a public TV station at age 50, her own television career was launched. 27 viewers wrote to the station, wanting to see more. The station produced three pilots, and then launched into production of The French Chef, which aired locally in 1962.

  The show debuted nationally in February 1963 and aired through July 1966.
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  (#19) Ray Kroc

  • Dec. at 82 (1902-1984)

  In 1954, salesman Ray Kroc found a small, but successful, restaurant run by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, and pitched his idea of placing McDonald's locations all over the US. At age 52, he founded McDonald’s System Inc., a predecessor of the McDonald’s Corporation, and six years later, bought the exclusive rights to the McDonald’s name.
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  (#20) Ronald Reagan

  • Dec. at 93 (1911-2004)

  A very successful Hollywood actor by age of 55, Ronald Reagan decided to enter the world of politics, running for Governor of California in 1966. Not only did he win that race, but he eventually became the oldest person to ever become President, at the age of 69.

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