At 119 years old, Sarah Knauss was the world’s oldest living person. She was born in 1880 and was just days away from seeing a third century when she died on Dec. 30, 1999.

Only two others in world history have (verifiably) lived longer.

Knauss lived much of her life in South Bethlehem before moving to a nursing home in Allentown. On her 117th birthday, 25 years ago this week, she was already the oldest person who ever lived in the United States.

Here’s how The Express-Times marked the occasion in the next day’s edition on Sept. 25, 1997:

She’s older than the Statue of Liberty, but sitting in front of a room jammed with well-wishers, Sarah Knauss didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

Her 117th birthday party at the Phoebe Home in Allentown seemed more for family and friends to celebrate her life than for Knauss.

A native of South Bethlehem, Knauss said it seems impossible. But it’s true. She’s the oldest person in the United States, and the second-oldest on Earth, party organizers said.

“Yesterday she was grinning ear to ear,” said Phoebe Ministries spokesperson Kathy Bohnenberger. “She said, ‘There must be someone older than me.’”

Still alert and in reasonably good health, Knauss has witnessed more history than anybody in the country, which had only 38 states when she was born.

Rutherford B. Hayes was president then, and Thomas Edison had just invented the lightbulb.

Knauss’ family — including a daughter, grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and a great-great-great-grandchild — joined her at the home to help blow out 117 candles on the cake.

… Swarmed by reporters and cameras, Knauss said she’s still happy after all these years. It seems like she doesn’t dwell on the past.

“I look ahead,” she said.

MORE LEHIGH VALLEY HISTORICAL HEADLINES THIS WEEK

• 10 YEARS AGO | Sept. 27, 2012: Local landmark Stewart’s Root Beer stand on Route 31 in Washington Township, Warren County, closes after more than 50 years in business.

• 25 YEARS AGO | Sept. 30, 1997: South Bethlehem native Pete Carril is inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame for his achievements coaching the Princeton Tigers. (Carril died in August 2022 at age 92.)

• 50 YEARS AGO | Sept. 29, 1972: Frederick W. Hahneman, of Easton, is sentenced to life in prison for the May 1972 hijacking of a Lehigh Valley flight. Just six months after D.B. Cooper’s infamous skyjacking and disappearance, Hahneman followed a similar M.O.: He demanded ransom during a stop, then took parachutes, provisions and $303,000 in cash and bailed over Honduras. Unlike Cooper, he was captured a month later.

• 100 YEARS AGO | Sept. 25, 1922: One of the federal agents in a Prohibition raid across the Lehigh Valley a month earlier is in a Belvidere jail cell for imbibing in illegal liquor. … Sept. 27: The first court hearings are held in Philadelphia for Lehigh Valley proprietors caught in the booze raid. … Sept. 27: The Easton Express reports that “all forms of hazing at Lafayette College will be abolished for all time” after a freshman is hospitalized.

This story is part of Lehigh Valley Then, a periodic series that recalls historical headlines from lehighvalleylive.com, The Express-Times and their predecessors from 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100 years ago. Stories are pulled from microfilm at the Easton and Bethlehem area public libraries. The original text is edited for clarity and length.

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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.