Does a deadpooling year really begin until “the oldest person in America” dies? This time round it’s Lessie Brown, who left school in 1915. The grandchild of slaves, Brown worked on farms and as a hotel maid in her younger days. She attributed her longevity to a teetotal lifestyle and regular consumption of sweet potatoes. And, really, you can live to 115 and still never manage to get sweet potato fries properly crispy. She was born before New York had any underground trains, and eight days before the first academic use of the word “lesbian”.
22 September 1904 – 8 January 2019
Died aged 114 (unique pick)