Chief Legal Counsel and former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. Voltaire F. Domingo, Senate PRIB/File 

Juan Ponce Enrile marked his 100th birthday on Wednesday, February 14. 

Dubbed by some social media users as “immortal”, Enrile has outlived both UK’s Queen Elizabeth and King Rama IX of Thailand, two of the longest reigning monarchs in the 20th century.

Enrile, who was born in 1924, is only a few days younger than the Winter Olympics, which was first held in France from January 25 to February 5, 1924.

To mark his birthday, here is a list of inventions, buildings, institutions and other things that are younger than him.

TECHNOLOGY

The past century is marked by several technological innovations and discoveries, from the television, which was first demonstrated in 1925, to the ballpoint pen, which was first patented in 1938.

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• • television (first demonstrated in public between 1925 to 1926)
• • automatic, pop-up bread toaster (1925)
• • aerosol spray can (1927)
• • Quartz clock (1927)
• • light-emitting diode (LED) (1927)
• 
  

• • penicillin (1928)
• • sliced bread (1928)
• • bubble gum (1928)
• • mass produced sunglasses (1929)
• • Scotch tape (1930)

Yonhap/EPA-EFE  

• • electron microscope (1931)
• • Zippo lighter (1932)
• • FM radio (1935)
• • canned beer (1935)
• • nylon (1935)
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Martin Hayhow, EPA-EFE 

• • Richter scale (1935)
• • radar (1935)
• • photocopier (1938)
• • ballpoint pen (1938)
• • freeze-dried coffee (1938)

 US Library of Congress

• • helicopter (1939)
• • air conditioner (1939)
• • polyester (1941)
• • atomic bomb (1945)
• • transistor radio (1947)

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• • microwave oven (1945)
• • Teflon non-stick pan (1945)
• • instant camera (1948)
• • Pager (1949)
• • computer mouse (1952)

• • electric drip coffee maker (1954)
• • alkaline battery (1957)
• • birth control pill (1960)
• • cassette tape (1962)
• • Floppy disk (1971)

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• • video game console (1972)
• • portable media player (1979)
• • Sony Walkman (1979)
• • CD player (1982)
• • CD-ROM (1983)

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• • Camcorder (1983)
• • Game Boy (1989)
• • digital camera (1990)
• • VCR (1970)
• • internet (1970s)
• • karaoke machine (prototype: 1967/sold 1970)

• • personal computer (1971)
• • mobile phone (1973)
• • laptop (1975)
• • world wide web (1990)
• • lithium-ion (1991)
• • WiFi router (1997) (1991)

COUNTRIES, INSTITUTIONS

Jin-Hee Park

The past century was also a period of political and social change in world history.

The so-called “Great Crash” of Wall Street in the United States happened in 1929, which is often associated with the Great Depression, which lasted until 1939.

The Second World War, which happened from 1939 to 1945, is also a contemporary of Enrile.

Enrile is also older than both present-day North and South Korea, which existed from 1948, as well as eight out of the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and even the organization itself.

 EPA-EFE 

• • Wall Street Crash (1929)
• • Vatican City (separation from Italy) (1929)
• • Empire State Building (1931)
• • Spanish Civil War (1936)
• • World War II (1939)

Wolfgang Kumm, EPA-EFE 

• • United Nations (1945)
• • World Health Organization (1948)
• • Central Intelligence Agency of the United States (1947)
• • Formation of North and South Korea (1948)
• • Berlin Wall (1961)
• • Association of Southeast Asian Nations (1967)

AWARDS, PAGEANTS, POP CULTURE

The Academy Awards, or more popularly known as the Oscars, was first held in 1929, when Enrile was 5 years old. Stories about the character of Winnie the Pooh were first published in 1926, while Mickey Mouse was first created in 1928. 

Thomas Coex, AFP 

• • The Great Gatsby (1925)
• • Winnie the Pooh (1926)
• • Mickey Mouse (1928)
• • Academy Awards (1929
• • Monopoly board game (1934)

• • Scrabble (1948)
• • Miss World (1951)
• • Miss Universe (1952)
• • Miss International (1960)
• • Miss Earth (2001)

 Akio Suga, EPA-EFE

• • The New Yorker (1925)
• • National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1926)
• • Astro Boy (1952)
• • First video game (1958)
• • Cable News Network (CNN) (1980)

Juan Ponce Enrile in 2019 during his campaign sortie in Malabon and Navotas, Manila, March 1, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File 

PHILIPPINE INSTITUTIONS

In the Philippines, Enrile is considered as one of the oldest living persons. Thus, it is not surprising that he is older than many popular institutions and brands in the country, including public utility companies, fast food chains, and even some of the universities.

• • Manila Metropolitan Theater (1931)
• • Tydings-McDuffie Law (1934)
• • Philippine Commonwealth (1935)
• • Armed Forces of the Philippines (1935)
• • Boy Scouts of the Philippines (1936)

PAL 

• • Communist Party of the Philippines (1930)
• • Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company or PLDT (1928)
• • Davao Prison and Penal Farm, the Philippines' first penal settlement (1932)
• • Philippine Airlines (1941)
• • University Athletic Association of the Philippines or UAAP (1938)

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• • Adamson University (1932)
• • Far Eastern University(1934)
• • University of the East (1946)
• • Philippine water supply system (1946)
• • Ninoy Aquino International Airport or NAIA (1948)

ABS-CBN News/file  

• • Philippine National Railways (1964)
• • Cultural Center of the Philippines (1966)
• • Philippine Basketball Association or PBA (1975)
• • Manila Light Rail Transit System or LRT (1984)
• • Manila Metro Rail Transit System or MRT (1999)

Creative Commons 

• • Tropical Hut (1962)
• • Jollibee (1978)
• • McDonald’s Philippines (1981)
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IMPORTANT EVENTS IN 1924

The year 1924 was also marked by several events and developments in world history. The technology for freezing food was first discovered in 1924, but it was not until 1930 when it was patented. Iodized salt was also first introduced in 1924, and it was also the same year when Johnson & Johnson introduced the machine-made Band-Aids we are familiar with now.

In the Philippines, aside from the birth of Enrile, 1924 marked the country’s first participation in the 1924 Summer Olympics. 

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In the same year, the country’s oldest collegiate athletic association, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, was also established.

PERKS OF A CENTENARIAN

In the Philippines, citizens who reach the age of 100 are entitled to a P100,000 cash incentive, as mandated by Republic Act 10868 or the Centenarian Act of 2016.

Last year, Congress approved a bill granting additional benefits to senior citizens.

Once signed into law, Filipino seniors will be receiving a P10,000 cash gift when they turn 80, 85, 90, and 95.

Congress OKs additional benefits for centenarians, senior citizens

Once he turns 100, Enrile will be eligible to receive the P100,000 cash incentive.

Enrile’s granddaughter earlier said the country’s Chief Presidential Legal Counsel will be celebrating his birthday with his family and friends.

Enrile to mark 100th birthday next month, aware of memes on his age: granddaughter