PHOTO FINISH

JOHN SMITH, THE 137-YEAR-OLD MAN C 1920

To look at his weathered, leathery skin, itclaimed he could clearly remember 18th-century battles between the Chippewa and Sioux, and the War of 1812. As you might imagine, Smith’s extraordinary age has been questioned. Paul Buffalo knew John Smith and has stated that Smith had said he was between seven and ten when “the stars fell”, a possible reference to the Leonid meteor shower of 1833. If true, this would have made him almost 100 when he died.