In April, the world lost its last link with the 19th century when Emma Martina Luigia Morano died in her home at the age of 117. Born on Nov. 29, 1899, she had survived two world wars, 20 years of fascism, more than 70 other Italian governments and 11 popes. Part of her secret, she told the Italian newspaper La Stampa in 2014, was her diet -- three eggs (one of them raw) and a glass of homemade grappa every day, plus cookies and chocolate whenever she felt like them. The main thing, though, was to have a positive attitude.
Needless to say, having the right genes played a role too. Morano's mother lived to be 91, one of her sisters reached 99 and another reached 102. But just as important, Morano had the luck to live in the most remarkable period in history. The human condition changed more in the...
