MONROE, Ga., USA -- Besse Cooper, who is 114 years and 5 months old and lives in a nursing home in Monroe, Ga., about 45 miles east of Atlanta.,assumed the mantle of theoldest living person after the death Monday of Eunice G. Sanborn of Jacksonville, Texas, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which certifies supercentenarians - people who are 110 or older.
Photo: Besse Cooper, right, who at 114 years and five months old, is the world's oldest person, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, talks with her son Sid Cooper in her room at a nursing home. Photo: AP / David Goldman (enlarge photo)
She was born in Sullivan County, Tenn., on Aug. 26, 1896, during the second term of President Grover Cleveland.
The previous Guinness world record for the Oldest living person was set by Eunice Sanborn (Texas, USA, b. 20 July 1896).
Guinness World Records also recognized the oldest living man: Walter Breuning (USA), who was born 21 September 1896.
Cooper wears a string of pearls double-looped around her neck and spends her days sitting and sleeping. Her wheelchair has bright pink armrests embroidered with "Ms. Besse, 2010 114."
One of eight children, she was a tomboy and loved tagging along with her two older brothers, climbing trees and splashing in rivers. She carried that active lifestyle and love of outdoors into adulthood. That, plus good genes, is probably the secret to her longevity, her son said.
She moved to Georgia to be a school teacher during World War I, her son said.
She married in the early 1920s and taught fourth through seventh grades in a two-room schoolhouse until her first child was born. Although she stopped teaching then, she was an avid reader until her eyes got too bad last year. She always insisted that her children get an education.
Married for about 40 years, Cooper has outlived her husband by nearly half a century. They had four children, about a dozen grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild, Sid Cooper said.
Cooper lived on her own until she was 105 and stubbornly resisted leaving her house, Sid Cooper said. Her health has declined steeply in the last year or so, and she can't hear or see well, he said. Speaking seems to require effort.
"I mind my own business and I don't eat junk food," she said at her 113th birthday celebration, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
10 oldest living
1. Besse Cooper (USA) - 26 Aug. 1896 (114)
2. Walter Breuning (USA) - 21 Sept. 1896 (114)
3. Chiyono Hasegawa (JPN) - 20 Nov. 1896 (114)
4. Venere Pizzinato (ITA) - 23 Nov. 1896 (114)
5. Shige Hirooka (JPN) - 16 Jan. 1897 (114)
6. Dina Manfredini (ITA/USA) - 4 Apr. 1897 (113)
7. Jiroemon Kimura (JPN) - 19 Apr. 1897 (113)
8. Ella Schuler (USA) - 5 Sept. 1897 (113)
9. Delma Kollar (USA) - 31 Oct. 1897 (113)
10. Toshi Horiya (JPN) - 8 Nov. 1897 (113)
HERNDON, VA, USA -- Ryota Wada, 9, attempted to log a perfect score dancing to a particular song, 'Heavy Eurobeat', on a particular setting - expert; he nailed all 223 steps and 16 combinations - setting the new world record for the Youngest Gamer to Achieve a Perfect Score on Dance Dance Revolution.
Photo: Ryota Wada, 10, 
became the youngest person to reach a perfect score on DanceDance Revolution
wen he was 9, according to the Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition. Photo: Shinsuke Kamioka/ Guinness World Records
(enlarge photo)
"Other kids say DDR is an adult game and it's very hard," he said. "I can do it very well. Why, I don't know. I think maybe because I can catch rhythm easily."
"It is a great honor for him," said Ted Wada, the proud father.
Ryota Wada, 10, was awarded a certificate from Guinness World Records for the feat, and his father, Ted Wada, has proudly displayed it on the mantel at his home in Herndon.
Victor "Lil Poison" De Leon III set a Guinness record several years ago by becoming the world's youngest professional gamer, inking a deal at age 6 to be paid to play the popular first-person "shooter" game Halo.
The Guinness World Record for the Most Prolific video game character was set by Mario, created by Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, in Kyoto, Japan; Mario has appeared in 207 distinct titles including remakes and re-releases.
Guinness World Records also recognized the largest collection of video games screenshots, which features over 17,000 unique items, achieved by Rikardo Granda (Colombia).
The boy's viral video, "Ryota's Move," was shot in California when he was 5, and his little legs pumped almost spasmodically.
The video turned Ryota, who attends Fox Mill Elementary School, into a minor Internet sensation before he entered first grade.
The popular video game works when a player selects a song, and then touches four coloured arrows on a plastic pad in a set sequence based on the music's rhythm.
"It's good for fitness," Ted Wada said of a game that's been used as a weapon in the U.S. war on childhood obesity, with schools in several states adding it to their physical education curriculum.
"I played for diet, and Ryota was so curious about why I enjoyed so much playing the game. He started to play when he was 3, and he wasn't any good. But I can't compete with him now. It brings him so much extra enjoyment. And it can help his development."
"Just pressing buttons and killing bodies may not be good for kids," said Ted Wada, who was a video game programmer in Japan, working for Konami, the company that created Dance Dance Revolution. (Wada is now a technology executive for the U.S. subsidiary of Noritsu, a Japanese manufacturer of photo-processing machines.)
SILVAPLANA, Switzerland -- Using only a balancing pole, and NO harness or safety nets,Daredevil Freddy Nocks, 45, walked 5,249ft downhill from one mountain station to another - setting the new
world record for the Hghest cable walk.
Photo: High-wire daredevil Freddy Nock shuffles along a cable-car rope 10,836ft up without a harness. Photo: AP (enlarge photo)
The 46-year-old circus tightrope walker did not use a harness or safety nets as he hovered above the clouds in Silvaplana, Switzerland, reports the Sun.
The Guinness world record for the longest wakeboarding marathon is 6 hr 17 min and was set by Ian Taylor (UK) who wakeboarded behind a cable tow at Whitecap Leisure on Willen Lake, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK
Guinness World Records also recognized Juan Pedro Carrillo (USA), who achieved the most consecutive turns skipping with a rope on a high-wire with 1,323 at the Big Apple Circus Big Top, Bayside Expo Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
The Swiss adventurer set a world record for the longest tightrope walk over water after a 900-metre trek across Lake Zurich last April.
He shuffled along the cable for some 5,249 feet, starting from the 
mountain station - at an altitude of 10,836 feet - to the middle station, which is 8,865 feet above sea level.
(enlarge photo)
Nock, who starting learning acrobatic skills at the age of four, successfully completed the walk on his second attempt, after bad weather forced him to stop earlier in the day.
In August 2009 Nock climbed up the steep cable on the slopes of Germany's highest mountain for charity, scaling the 3,264-foot-long line with only a balancing pole and not nets or safety rope (see below video).
During that climb, which took him 50 minutes, Nock gained 1,141 feet in altitude and - in front of 1,800 spectators - finished his climb 9,655 feet above sea level.
He raised $19,000 for a German charity which runs rural developmental projects in Ethiopia.
KEIZER, Oregon, USA -- Three-year-old AJ Hayes called 911 after his father Aaron accidentally cut himself with a wood chisel, possibly saving his life and also setting the world record for the Youngest to make a lifesaving call. 
Photo: Three-year-old AJ Hayes called 911 after his father Aaron accidentally cut himself with a wood chisel, possibly saving his life. Photo: Thomas Patterson (enlarge photo)
The Guinness world record for the youngest mayor was set by High School student, Michael Sessions (USA, 22 September 1987), who was elected on 8 November 2005 and sworn in as Mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, USA at the age of 18 years, 61 days.
Guinness World Records also recognized the youngest player to appear in 1,000 games in NBA career: Kobe Bryant, aged 31 years and 177 days, when playing for Los Angeles Lakers against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Aaron Hayes was doing work around the house when he accidentally stabbed himself in the arm with a wood chisel. He severed a main artery and was bleeding heavily.
AJ, who has blond hair, big blue eyes and light-up Velcro tennis shoes, grabbed the phone and called the numbers his dad taught him: 911.
A.J. told the emergency operator that his father was hurt and, "You have to come. He really needs help."
A police officer was dispatched and a 911 operator called back, asking the boy if his father needed police or an ambulance. This time the little boy said "OK" and hung up again.
Keizer Fire District spokeswoman Anne-Marie Penge says the operator heard a second voice in the background "screaming in agony for help" so an ambulance and fire crew were dispatched.
A local police officer arrived first and found Hayes leaning over the kitchen counter. The officer wrapped a towel around Hayes' wound to apply pressure.
He was taken to an area hospital, treated for the wound and released.
"I said, 'I love you, Dad,'" AJ said. His father responded: "Thank you, son, you saved my life."
Paramedics said Hayes easily could have bled to death. They point to this as another example of the importance of teaching kids how to use 911.
Keizer fire officials said it is never too early to teach children to call 911. Even if they don't know their address, 911 is easy, important and saves lives, Penge said.
The three year old was able to let dispatchers know that his dad needed help, and unlocked the door so police could get in. Paramedics say without his quick action, his dad would have bled to death.
When the boy was asked how he was able to call for help, A.J. replied, "I knew my numbers."
