

Human Lifespans Nearly Constant for 2,000 Years - JohnIdol
http://www.livescience.com/health/090821-human-lifespans.html
Maximum human lifespan, often confused with life expectancy, has remained more or less the same.
======
mbrubeck
The author's claim is contradicted by his own numbers:

"According to the National Center for Health Statistics, life expectancy for
men in 1907 was 45.6 years; by 1957 it rose to 66.4; in 2007 it reached 75.5.
Unlike the most recent increase in life expectancy... the increase in life
expectancy between 1907 and 2007 was largely due to a decreasing infant
mortality rate."*

But with life expectancy at birth of 46 years and infant mortality of 10%, the
life expectancy _excluding_ infant mortality is still at most 51 years. So in
fact we gained about 5 years of life expectancy from decreased infant
mortality and 25 years from other factors.

