A Montana resident believed to be the worlds oldest man celebrated his 114th birthday at a retirement home in Great Falls.Walter Breuning was born on Sept. 21, 1896, in Melrose, Minnesota, and moved to Montana in 1918, where he worked as a clerk for the Great Northern Railway for 50 years.
His wife, Agnes, a railroad telegraph operator from Butte, died in 1957. The couple had no children. Breuning inherited the distinction of being the worlds oldest man in July 2009 when Briton Henry Allingham died at age 113. Allingham had joked that the secret to long life was "Cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women — and a good sense of humor," according to Guinness World Records.
The Guinness organization and the Gerontology Research Group each have verified Breuning as the worlds oldest man and the fourth-oldest person. Three women were born earlier in the same year as Breuning. Robert Young, senior consultant for gerontology for Guinness World Records, presented Breuning with a copy of the books 2011 edition that lists him as the record holder.