近距离内射合集

鈥淲e know a thing or two because we鈥檝e seen a thing or two,鈥� one insurance company says in its TV commercials. If a special man who lived long ago could hear that boast, he could easily reply, 鈥淗old my beer.鈥�

Because one solitary life stretched from the French Revolution to the eve of the 20th century, from the time when Madame Guillotine was lopping off heads in Paris to the first days of people riding in automobiles. During that lifetime, the Industrial Revolution dawned with a vengeance, empires rose and fell and electricity began creeping into everyday life, never to leave it.

One man saw it all firsthand, as it happened. And he not only witnessed history 鈥� he even made it himself.

There was no reason to suspect anything unusual on one Sunday in 1788. That Sept. 21 (pay attention to the date; it鈥檚 important later on) was just another day of the week, and Geert Adriaans Boomgaard was just another mouth for his struggling sea captain father to feed. Several children had arrived before him, although the exact number is sketchy, and times were tight in the Dutch town of Groningen.

There was nothing to distinguish young Geert from countless other youths in Europe at the time. Like many, he followed in his father鈥檚 footsteps and went to sea. But it was a lousy career choice, for with war waging across much of the continent, businesses were reluctant to ship their goods by water.

So Geert turned to that old, reliable employer of last resort: the military. Napoleon Bonaparte was constantly in need of new 鈥渃annon fodder鈥� (as he derisively called foot soldiers). With the Netherlands under 鈥淭he Little Corporal鈥檚鈥� control at the time, Geert enlisted in the 33rd Light Infantry Regiment of Napoleon鈥檚 Grand Armee, fighting under France鈥檚 tricolor flag.

He married in 1818; his wife, Stijne, died after giving birth to their eighth child. He remarried a year later, had four more kids for a grand total of 12, and lived an otherwise unremarkable life.

Until its very last chapter, that is. For that was when things got interesting.

On April 10, 1898, at the remarkably ripe old age of 109, Geert lived one day longer than the previous record holder, becoming the oldest person in recorded history.

(No disrespect is meant to Methuselah or any of the other Patriarchs of the Old Testament, whom the Book of Genesis says lived for hundreds of years. Scripture provides no birthdays 鈥� remember that September 21 date mentioned earlier? 鈥� or death dates, and the folks who compile such records are ticklers for precise paperwork.)

In the homestretch of his human existence, Geert became a bona fide international celebrity. At long last, Geert Boomgaard was big news, because he quickly became the world鈥檚 first Supercentenarian, a person who lives past age 110.

近距离内射合集papers and magazines around the world carried feature stories on him. In a time when life expectancy was 46 years for men and 48 for women, readers couldn鈥檛 get enough of the guy who blew those stats out of the water.

But his moment in the spotlight didn鈥檛 last long.

Geert died on Feb. 3, 1899, aged 110 years and 135 days. He had outlived his wives, all 12 of his children, and even a good many of his grandkids.

His record stood until 1903, when an Englishwoman reached almost 111. His title as the oldest recorded man lasted until American Robert Early bested him in 1960.

Maybe his life wasn鈥檛 adventurous or exciting, but what a way to go! Proving yet again that good things do indeed come to those who wait.

J. Mark Powell is a former television journalist. His nonfiction book 鈥淲itness to War: The Story of the Civil War Told by Those Living Through It鈥� is available at . He wrote this for .