Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S., there's a tourist attraction dating back a century that purports-albeit in a tongue-in-cheek way-to be the fountain of youth that Ponce de Leon discovered soon after he arrived in what is now Florida in 1513. During the 12th century A.D., a king known to Europeans as Prester John supposedly ruled a land that had a river of gold and a fountain of youth.īut the name linked most closely to the search for a fountain of youth is 16th-century Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who allegedly thought it would be found in Florida. So it's not hard to understand why there have always been hopes and rumors that something soon to be discovered-magic waters, say, or maybe stem cell research-will do away with old age.Īlexander the Great, who conquered most of the known world before he died around 323 B.C., may have been looking for a river that healed the ravages of age. The ancient Greek poet Homer called old age "loathsome," and William Shakespeare termed it "hideous winter." Oscar Wilde's character Dorian Gray even preserved his youth by aging only in a painting, to hideous effect. Twain's quip was only one of many complaints about aging that have been recorded for as long as humans have dreaded the downside of a long life. During his twilight years, American author Mark Twain noted that "life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18."
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