[Harry!]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090407/...5-41f21e0.html



Gertrude Baines, the world's oldest living person, has celebrated her 115th birthday with a big cake.

She was also officially recognised as the world's oldest person by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Ms Baines - who was born in 1894 in Shellman, Georgia - received a letter from US President Barack Obama, who took time out from his busy schedule to wish her a happy birthday.

To put things in perspective, Ms Baines, whose father was the son of slaves, witnessed the invention of the automobile, the age of flight and was 18-years-old when the Titanic sank.

The 115-year-old says she owes her "longevity to the Lord, that she never did drink, she never did smoke and she never did fool around".

Ms Baines made the local news in November when she cast her ballot for Mr Obama in the presidential election, saying she backed him "because he's for the coloured".

She said she never thought she would live to see a black man become president.

Ms Baines' ascension to the top spot came after the death of a Portuguese woman, Maria de Jesus, who was also 115.