Thomas Parr, famed for his 152nd birthday, met the king in London before dying suddenly, sparking rumors about city life and rich food. His legend spawned 'Parr’s Life Pills,' an early patent medicine, and inspired centuries of speculation and lore.

Parr’s age and abrupt London demise became a sensation—two centuries later, Herbert Ingram launched Parr’s Life Pills, claiming the secret recipe. The oddity of a 152-year-old’s supposed wellness formula made his name a byword for dubious longevity cures and poetic tributes.

Parr’s story was immortalized in a poem by John Taylor and inspired patent medicines 200 years after his death.