I wrote about the last American WWI veteran, Frank Buckles, in a post last year. When you read about these men you can’t help but realize that our modern world really is pretty young. Modern transportation, communications, energy, and of course high tech are all inventions of the 20th century; it must be extraordinary to have been witness to so many of those inventions.

Born June 6, 1896, during the reign of Queen Victoria, Allingham would later recall sitting on his grandfather’s shoulders waving a flag for King Edward VII’s coronation in 1902. Transportation was horse drawn, coal was the primary fuel, street lighting was gas and in the financial heart of London, there was same-day mail delivery.

[From World's oldest man, WWI veteran dies - Yahoo! News]