Emma Morano is the only person left on Earth who was alive in the 1800s: https://t.co/Y51lFcytf6 (Photo: epa) pic.twitter.com/RrZFFjtbNI — USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 13, 2016

Earlier this week, 116-year-old Susannah Mushatt Jones died in New York City, leaving no one else in the U.S. who was born in the 19th century, as far as reliable record indicate. In fact, her death leaves only one person in the world known to have been born in the 1800s.

Born about a month before 1900 began and when England's Queen Victoria was still on the throne, Emma Morano is now the oldest living person. Incredibly, she still lives on her own in northern Italy.



On Friday, she was happy to hear the title had passed to her, one of her relatives told London's Daily Telegraph newspaper. “She was told this morning and she said ‘My word, I’m as old as the hills,’ but she was very pleased,” Rosi Santoni said.

Morano credits her longevity to a daily glass of brandy, along with other things that don't sound healthy (link contains auto-play video). Researchers are studying supercentenarian in Italy, who tend to live longer than people anywhere else in the world.