--- title: World's Oldest Man Israel Kristal Celebrates Birthday description: As the oldest man in the world celebrates his 113th birthday, here's a look at the other history made the year he was born canonical: https://time.com/4481960/worlds-oldest-man-history-birth-year/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-15T12:30:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T02:53:43.000Z article:section: History og:title: World's Oldest Man Israel Kristal Celebrates Birthday og:description: From telegraphs to the Tour de France og:url: https://time.com/4481960/worlds-oldest-man-history-birth-year/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b283144cf31af26/6988a5c7656a3fe7cfbcd12c/wright-brothers-1903.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: wright-brothers-1903 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: World's Oldest Man Israel Kristal Celebrates Birthday twitter:description: From telegraphs to the Tour de France twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b283144cf31af26/6988a5c7656a3fe7cfbcd12c/wright-brothers-1903.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 06:26 video:published: 2014-04-07 section: history topics: March on Washington, civil rights movement, nonviolent protest, Freedom Rides, Montgomery bus boycott, Birmingham demonstrations, racial segregation, police violence against protesters, federal government action, political change genre: documentary, archival, oral history tones: reflective, urgent, solemn, hopeful emotions: determination (high), pride (medium), anger (medium), fear (low) sentiment: neutral audience: history students, civil rights researchers, general news audiences, educators people: Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis organizations: Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Freedom Riders content_suitability: violence [02:43-03:27]; violence [03:50-04:33]; politics [04:33-05:36]; war [01:21-01:41] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # The World's Oldest Man Was Born 113 Years Ago. Here's What Else Happened Then > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=87942c01-6d57-47bf-bcda-103c93517c03&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=87942c01-6d57-47bf-bcda-103c93517c03&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The March on Washington: The Movement Begins [Watch (HLS stream): The March on Washington: The Movement Begins](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eYWENlb4.m3u8) (6:26)  _Published 2014-04-07. The March on Washington was a peaceful demonstration for racial equality. But it would not have happened without the beatings, arrests and violent struggle for civil rights that had already engulfed the Deep South._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video traces the path to the 1963 March on Washington through firsthand recollections of civil rights activists. It covers the nonviolent direction set by Martin Luther King Jr. after the Montgomery bus boycott, the Freedom Rides and the violence they met, and the televised Birmingham demonstrations. It also describes the debate between nonviolence and retaliatory violence, and the decision to move the struggle to the national capital. ## Key points - Speakers describe King's leadership of the Montgomery bus boycott and his insistence that the protest be nonviolent. (02:01) - The Freedom Rides tested segregation laws on interstate buses and trains with racially mixed riders, and encountered violence in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where John Lewis was badly beaten. (02:26) - A speaker says that as nonviolence grew, a parallel growth of eye-for-an-eye violence emerged, which some activists saw as an answer. (03:19) - Television images of high-pressure fire hoses and police dogs used against demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama, circulated around the world. (04:00) - The Birmingham demonstrations sparked a wave of black protests across the country, and the protest shifted from a Negro protest to what a speaker calls a Negro revolution. (04:33) - A speaker argues that the struggle had to move to the center of power, because local demonstrations would not produce significant change without changing the central government. (05:03) - The speaker describes the Freedom Riders' sit-ins and bus rides as using nonviolence to 'get in the way' of segregation. (02:30) - A speaker warns that if the day erupted into violence, the cause would be seriously reversed and hard to recover. (05:48) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 01:07] King's Call to Marching Feet. Speakers introduce the idea of a determined people's power and the demand for freedom, describing the gap between America's ideals and black Americans' experience. - [01:07 to 02:26] Segregation and the Montgomery Boycott. A speaker recalls growing up under segregated signs and first learning of King through the Montgomery bus boycott and its nonviolent approach. - [02:26 to 03:27] Freedom Rides and the Nonviolence Debate. Activists describe the Freedom Rides, the violence in Rock Hill, and the growing tension between nonviolence and retaliatory violence. - [03:27 to 04:33] Birmingham and Televised Brutality. The Birmingham demonstrations are described as televised images that spread worldwide and ignited protests across the country. - [04:33 to 05:36] Toward a March on Washington. Speakers explain the decision to take the struggle to Washington to influence the president and Congress, framing the march as a moral crusade. - [05:36 to 06:26] Warnings About Violence. The closing segment, which is partly inaudible, warns that the day could erupt into violence and undermine the cause. ## Key quotes - [00:12] Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "there's not anything more powerful than the marching feet of a determined people." - [02:30] Unknown: "So, I used non violence by sitting on a lunch counter stool, by going on the freedom ride." - [04:00] Unknown: "Police dogs biting them." - [04:33] Unknown: "What started out, as the Black Negro protest, had developed into a Negro revolution." - [05:03] Unknown: "It really has to be a moral crusade for the country." ## Questions this video answers - What did Martin Luther King Jr. ask of the civil rights movement after taking over the Montgomery bus boycott? [02:05] - What happened to the Freedom Riders in Rock Hill, South Carolina? [02:43] - Why were the Birmingham demonstrations significant? [03:50] - Why did organizers decide the march had to take place in Washington? [05:03] - What concern did some speakers raise about the march turning violent? [05:48] ## Content suitability - violence [02:43-03:27]: Describes beatings of activists, including John Lewis, during the Freedom Rides and the spread of retaliatory violence. - violence [03:50-04:33]: Describes police use of high-pressure fire hoses and dogs against demonstrators in Birmingham. - politics [04:33-05:36]: Discusses racial segregation, federal government response, and the push for national political change. - war [01:21-01:41]: Mentions the end of the Second World War in the context of returning veterans and racial inequality.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:53 AM UTCPublished: Sep 15, 2016 12:30 PM UTC  Library of Congress  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:53 AM UTCPublished: Sep 15, 2016 12:30 PM UTC Thursday marks the 113th birthday of the world’s oldest man, Israel Kristal, whose claim to fame has been verified by the [Guinness World Records](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2016/3/guinness-world-records-announces-holocaust-survivor-israel-kristal-as-worlds-old), Gerontology Research Group, and the Jewish Records Indexing in Poland. Kristal was born Izrael Icek Krysztal on Sept. 15, 1903, in a Russian-occupied Polish village. According to the[ Gerontology Research Group](http://www.grg.org/GRGNews2016.html), when the Nazis invaded Poland, Kristal—who ran a candy shop in Lodz with his father—had to move to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto with his family. Four years later, he was sent to Auschwitz, and labored at several other camps before being liberated in May of 1945\. His wife Chaja Fajga Frucht and their two children did not survive the Holocaust. He later remarried, had a son and relocated to Haifa, Israel, where he has lived since 1950. On the occasion of Kristal’s 113th birthday, TIME looks backs at the history made the year he was born. _January 19:_ **_The first transatlantic wireless message from the United States was sent_** President Theodore Roosevelt exchanged [“cordial greetings”](https://books.google.com/books?id=wfSABTyeiV4C&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=January+19,+1903,+roosevelt+king+edward&source=bl&ots=oJoU4Rw-xk&sig=25k72iQ97RvIGRcjJ6XfNIzjtIY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjz-5a6-%5F3OAhVG2SYKHai3Be8Q6AEIRzAJ#v=onepage&q=January%2019%2C%201903%2C%20roosevelt%20king%20edward&f=false) with King Edward VII in London through a station built on Cape Cod by wireless telegraph inventor and radio innovator [Guglielmo Marconi](https://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/marconi.html). _March 14:_ **_The first wildlife refuge in the U.S. was established_** President Roosevelt designated Pelican Island off the Atlantic Coast of Florida as the first federal bird reservation, safeguarding brown pelicans from plume hunting and giving birth to the National Wildlife Refuge System. _July 1-18:_ **_The first Tour de France took place_** The champion, Frenchman Maurice Garin, set a record for [the race](http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1903/histoire.html)‘s largest margin when the second-place cyclist rode in 2 hours and 49 minutes later. _July 23:_ **_The f_** **_irst Ford was sold_** The Ford Motor Company was incorporated, and orders for the Ford Model A revved up. _Summer:_ **_Jack London’s_** **Call of the Wild** **_was published_** First serialized in the _Saturday Evening Post,_ Jack London’s classic novel told the adventures of a sled dog named Buck during the 1890s gold rush in the Alaskan Yukon. _October:_ **_The first World Series in Major League Baseball was held_** The [Boston team](http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/postseason/mlb%5Fws%5Frecaps.jsp?feature=1903) (now known as the Red Sox) beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 after their owners agreed to a “best of nine” series. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) _November 6:_ **_The U_** **_.S. recognized Panama’s independence from Colombia_** The U.S. established [diplomatic relations](https://history.state.gov/countries/panama) with Panama after aiding the revolt, which led to the construction of the Panama Canal, a [more affordable and quicker](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/panama-canal) shipping route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The dealings would be one of President Roosevelt’s most significant and controversial foreign policy initiatives. _December 10:_ **_Pierre and Marie Curie and Henri Becquerel won the Nobel Prize in Physics_** After Henri Becquerel discovered the radioactivity of [uranium](https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200803/physicshistory.cfm) in 1896, Marie and Pierre Curie [discovered](http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel%5Fprizes/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-facts.html) even more radioactive elements polonium and radium. _December 17:_ **_The first successful airplane flight took off_** The Wright Brothers Wilbur and Orville were airborne for 12 seconds and 120 feet over Kill Devil Hills, N.C. In a telegram to their father, they wrote that their “flyer” had four successful flights, the [longest ](https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/thefirstflight.htm)being 59 seconds and 852 feet in distance. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] Dr. Martin [00:05] Luther King, Jr. said, there's not anything more [00:08] powerful than the marching feet of a determined [00:12] people. We shall not be moved. As a kid, [00:16] there was not much I could aspire to. We [00:23] were diminished in the way we thought we could [00:26] access power. And be part of the American fabric. [00:32] [ NOISE ] [00:34] And so, this gigantic march. We were [00:38] saying to the world, this Land of great opportunity. [00:42] This land of liberty, has an asterisk beside it. [00:47] It is a land of freedom for everybody else, except [00:51] black people. [ CROSSTALK ] Do you want to be free? [00:52] Yes! Do you want to be free? Yes! Do you want to be [00:53] free? [00:56] Yes! [ CROSSTALK ] [ MUSIC ] [01:07] Prior to Martin Luther King, Jr ., the United States was [01:11] like a dysfunctional drug addict or alcoholic. You [01:14] become addicted to racial segregation. [01:19] [ MUSIC ] [01:21] The [01:24] end of the second World War, [01:28] you were under the belief, if we were triumphant over [01:32] Fascism, that the men and women returned from that [01:35] conflict. Would be celebrated and honored When I was [01:39] growing up in rural Alabama and would see those [01:41] signs that was there. White waiting, colored waiting. [01:45] White men, colored men. I would ask my mother, my [01:48] father, my grandparents why they would say, that's the [01:50] way it is, don't get in the way. I first knew of Dr. King [01:54] the way everybody knew of Dr. King. All of a sudden [01:57] one day in the midst of this turmoil in some far away [02:01] place called Montgomery. Dr. King was [02:05] pressed into service and took over the leadership of [02:07] the Montgomery bus boycott, and we heard that [02:10] almost immediately because not only did he, accept [02:15] the leadership. But he pressed this idea that we should [02:18] do it nonviolently. I was deeply inspired by Dr. Martin [02:22] Luther King Junior to find a way to get in [02:26] the way. So, I used non violence by sitting on a lunch [02:30] counter stool, by going on the freedom ride. To get in [02:31] the way. The Freedom Ride was an attempt to break [02:34] the segregation laws on interstate transportation on [02:37] buses and on trains. There were six whites on the [02:41] Freedom Ride and seven blacks we would sit together [02:43] the black and white and Rock Hill South Carolina is [02:47] where we encountered the first violence with John [02:50] Lewis being. Pretty well beaten up. Federal [02:53] government finally intervened and these early victories [02:57] only encouraged us that we could do other things. [02:59] They were very smart, media wise, because they [03:02] dressed up. They put the ties on, they put jackets on. [03:05] They were looking good. And they are going up against [03:08] the authority. They're going against the man That was [03:12] tremendously exciting to us as young, white [03:15] southerners. As the non- violent uh, concept [03:19] grew, parallel to that was also the growth of, eye for an [03:23] eye violence. And there were many [03:27] who, were quite bright, and quite gifted and honorable [03:31] men and women. We saw violence as an answer. That [03:34] just did not quite sit comfortably with the code that [03:38] others of us had. Saying that although racism was a [03:42] cruel experience, we could not fight it by becoming [03:45] racists. [ NOISE ] In [03:50] Birmingham, Alabama, the nation was cheated with [03:52] television images. Of black and white boys and girls [03:56] having high pressure fire hoses , slam them up against [04:00] the walls as they were peacefully demonstrating to end [04:02] segregation. Police dogs biting them. These pictures [04:04] were circulated all around the world. [ NOISE ] [04:09] But those demonstrations were like a. Spark that [04:13] ignited a prairie fire of black protests across the [04:16] country. And Kennedy, on the one hand he's trying to [04:20] win Africans and people and say, we're a better [04:23] system than Communism, and at the same time there [04:26] was this harsh treatment of black people that just [04:28] didn't square in the final equation. And [04:33] the more we were fiesty in our demands of [04:36] government, the more it revealed the weaknesses in [04:39] our construct. What started out, as the Black [04:43] Negro protest, had developed into [04:48] a Negro revolution. There was a feeling that we would [04:51] not be able to break the deep south. So, that march on [04:55] Washington was to be the culmination of [04:59] all of this intense organizing. It really has to be a moral [05:03] crusade for the country. The struggle for freedom in [05:07] the United States had to move to the center of power. [05:10] To where the predsident and the congress were that [05:12] no matter how many demonstrations took place In [05:15] Montgomery and in Birmingham, and in places all [05:18] around the South. That until you could change the [05:22] central government, significant things wouldn't happen. [05:24] The march on Washington was an accumulation of all [05:26] this cuz here would have been the biggest display of [05:30] America in its most democratic moment. Making [05:36] a choice, and it was something that was emerging as, a [05:39] great demonstration as to the will of [05:43] the people. [ MUSIC ] [ UNKNOWN ] That that day, [05:48] erupted, into violence. Then our cause [05:52] would be seriously. [ UNKNOWN ] reversed. And [05:57] hard to come by [06:01] again. [ MUSIC ] [ INAUDIBLE ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4481960/worlds-oldest-man-history-birth-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4481960/worlds-oldest-man-history-birth-year/"},"headline":"The World's Oldest Man Was Born 113 Years Ago. 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