The world’s oldest man, a Japanese, died Tuesday at the age of 112 after suffering chronic heart problems, officials said. Yasutaro Koide had said his secret to a long life was not to smoke, drink or overdo it. Koide, who was born on March 13, 1903, died two months short of his 113th birthday, reports NY Times. In the year he was born, the Wright brothers made their historic first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and a modernizing Japan was embroiled in a dispute with Russia over Manchuria that would erupt into the Russo-Japanese War in early 1904.
He was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest man last August. Japan, a rapidly aging country, has more than 61,000 centenarians.
