Twin Facts

There are plenty of statistical data available on twins. You may read this following to know some of those.

Most Twins
Mrs. Fyodor Vassilyev (sometimes seen as Feodor Vassiliev, or Fydor Vassilet) of Shuya, Russia (1702 or 07- June 16 1782) gave birth to 16 sets of twins (in addition to 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quads.). She had a total of 69 children, 67 of whom survived infancy who were born between 1725 - 1765.
Mrs. Mary Jonas who died in 1899 had 15 sets, and all were boy/girl.
Most Premature
The most premature twins are Jimmy and Missy Fisher who were born 117 days early, on March 27 1999, which is just over 23 weeks. The previous record goes to Joanna and Alexander Bagwell, born 114 days premature on June 2 1993 in England. Robbin Anderson gave birth to twins Aleck and Keifer, Aleck at 23 weeks and Keifer at 23 weeks 3 days, weighing 15ozs and 1lb 3ozs.

Longest Interval Between Twins
Mrs. Peggy Lynn gave birth to Hanna on November 11 1995 and twin Eric on Feb 2 1996, 84 days later, the longest interval between twins. The previous record was held by Mrs. Danny Berg of Italy, who had Diana on December 23 1987 and her twin Monica on January 30 1988, 38 days later. I have heard the Keys family of Louisiana had their twins 95 days apart, in 1994 and 1995.

Oldest Female Twins
*The twins in the world were Japan's Kin Narita and Gin Kanie who were born August 1 1892. Kin passed away on January 23 2000 from heart failure at the age of 107, and Gin passed away February 28 2001 at 108.
*The oldest females in the USA were most likely Alice Grubb Hill and Maggie Grubb Lambeth of North Carolina were born January 13 1884, and both died at 106.
*Mildred Widman Phillipi and Mary Widman Franzini of Missouri missed celebrating their 105th birthday when. Mildred died May 4 1985, 44 days before the landmark event. Mary died at age 107.
*Vassilka Dermendjhieva and Vassila Yapourdjieva from Bulgaria were born in 1862 and supposedly lived to at least 104.
*Maria and Dora Leuven were born in the Netherlands on November 15 1897. They celebrated their 103rd birthdays together, and one passed away on November 17 2000.
*Alice Maria and Emily Edith Wheeler were born April 20 1888 in England, and were alive as of 1990, making them 102 at that time, and probably the oldest ever UK twins. I am not sure when they passed away.
*Sarah and Mattie Duckworth turned 102 on February 11 1968, but I am unsure of when they passed away.
*Gertrude Blasingame and Pearl Due of Arkansas, were born July 27 1899. Gertrude passed away in 2000.
*Maria and Dora Leuven of the Netherlands were born November 15 1897. One passed away at age 103.
*Rhea Spohner and Ruth Emblow turned 100 in February 1998, but I have no further info on if they are still surviving.
*Twins Mary and Marjorie Chavasse of England lived to 100 years 332 days and 103 years 213 days.
*Twins Treva Pence and Mabel Harpine of Maryland were born July 19 1900 and lived to 100. Mabel passed away on March 2 2001 and Treva on May 22.
*Lola Vaughan Bell and Lula Vaughan Tolleson both lived to 100 (Lola to 100 and Lula to 103).

Oldest Male Twins
*Dale and Glen Moyer of Ohio, are either the oldest males in history, and were born June 20 1895. Glen died at age 105 in 2001.
*The oldest male twins may have been Eli and John Phipps born February 14 1812 in Virginia. Eli lived to be 99 years old (died Feb 23 1911), and John 104 (died Dec 10 1916).
*Lee and Sam DeSpain who were born January 13 1902. Lee passed away on September 25 2000.
*Gulbrand and Bernt Morterud of Norway were born December 20 1858 and Bernt died at age 101, while Gulbrand died at 105.
*Matthew and Joseph Rossiter of Canada were born March 31 1909 reached the age of 91. Matthew passed away in July 2000.

Oldest Female Twins (Living)
*Currently the oldest living twins in the world are Jacoba and Cornelia van der Meulen, born March 31 1898 in the Netherlands and just celebrated their 103rd birthday. 
*The oldest living female twins in the US are Estella Oksol and Luvella Olsen were born April 20 1900 and are now 101 years old. They were born in North Dakota and currently live together in Minnesota.
*The Clarke twins, Alice and Nellie, of England were born in June 15 1900, and are the UK's Oldest Living Twins.
*Isabelle Ferguson Lettinger and Charlotte Ford born July 30 1904 in Pennsylvania.
*Anna McParland and Bridie Kennedy were born on October 1 1905 in Northern Ireland.
*Ella Vacek and Sylvia Pospisil of Nebraska were born in 1905.
*Identical twins Mattie Vines-Jones and Libba Nixon of North Carolina were born on January 7 1910.
*Fraternal twins Ethel May and Eva Fay Hope of Florida were born February 17 1910.
*Fraternal twins Clara Ratermann and Bertha Ellers of Illinois, were born June 10 1910.
*Identical twins Arvie G. Andrews and Elvie G. Daniels were born March 2 1910 in Texas.
*Millie and Connie Loveland of England were born on March 6 1911.
*Identical twins Erlene Harrell Long and Corene Harrell Stabler were born on October 27 1911.

I have heard of Mary and Marian Lamb of the US born in 1895, who were at one time listed as the US's oldest set, but I have heard no further info on them. Zoe Beaver and Gladys Freeman were born October 12 1902 in Texas, and last article I read they were turning 95. I am not sure if they both survive.

Oldest Male Twins (Living)
*Identical twins Sherman and Sheridan Everett of Oregon were born on September 6 1902.
*Lawrence and Louis Schweihofer were born December 4 1905.
*Twins Emil and Sam from New York were born in 1905, and are 96 years old.
*Curtis and Curran Carter of Indiana were born August 29 1908.
*Twins David and Barnett Satz of New York were born July 4 1910 and are 91.
*George and Fred Wilson were born in December 1911 in BC, Canada, and are 90 years old.

Oldest Boy/Girl Twins (Living)
Mary Fisher and Bill Binnie born December 3 1901, were born in Scotland, and now live in British Columbia, Canada, turned 100 in 2001.
E. John Renwick and Irene Bell of Manitoba, Canada were born July 15, 1903 and both turned 98 in 2001.
Josie and Joseph Jantz of Washington were born March 14 1909 and are both 92.

Tallest Twins
The tallest living male twins are Michael and James Lanier of Michigan who are 7ft 4in, born November 27 1969. The tallest females are Heather and Heidi Burge who are 6ft 4 3/4in. Heidi plays for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. The previous record was held by Pat and Pam Terry of Ohio, who are both 6ft tall.

The tallest in the UK of all time were the Knipe brothers, born in 1761, who both reached 7ft 2in. The height record holders in the UK as of 1990 were Andrew and Timothy Hull who were born October 24 1968 and are 6ft 9.3in and 6ft 10.3in. I am unsure if they are still the current record holders.

Shortest Twins
The shortest living male twins are John and Greg Rice of the Florida who are 34" tall. The shortest females are Dorene Williams and Darlene McGregor of USA who are 4ft 1". The shortest of all time were Matjus and Bela Matina of Hungary (later of USA) who were both 30" tall.

Lightest Birth weight
The world's lightest twin birth weight is for Anne Faith Sarah (14.8ozs) and John Alexander (15.5ozs) Morrison of Canada, born Jan 14 1994, who tied with Roshan Maralyn (17.28ozs) and Melanie Louise Gray of Australia, born November 1993. Both sets had a total birth weight of 30.3ozs (1lb 14.3ozs). The previous record was held by Mary (16ozs) and Margaret (19ozs) Stimson of England, who totaled 35ozs (2lbs 3ozs) at birth on August 16 1931.

Heaviest Birth Weight
The heaviest birth weight I could find was for twins born to Mrs. J.P. Haskin of Arkansas, on February 20 1924, totaling 27 lbs 12ozs. A set born in England, the Warren's weighed a total of 25lbs 8 ozs at their birth on December 6 1884.

Heaviest Twins
The heaviest twins were Billy Leon and Benny Loyd McCrary (December 7 1946) of North Carolina, who weighed 743lbs and 723lbs. Billy died on January 13 1979 from heart failure after a fall from a mini bike. Benny died March 26 2001 from heart failure.

First Test Tube (IVF) Twins
The world's first test tube twins are Stephen and Amanda Mays born June 5 1981.

Longest Separated Twins
Iris Johns and Aro Campbell were separated from each other Jan 13 1914 and reunited 75 years later. Phillip and Barbara McAurley were born in England May 27 1916 and separated June 1917 until Jun 29 1987, 70 years later.

Most Identical
The most identical twins are John and William Reiff of Pennsylvania, who have won a record 22 titles in a most identical contest. They have had a 13 year winning streak (57-96).

Youngest Mother of Twins
The youngest mother of twins I could find is Donna Dowman of England, conceived twins at 13 and had Rachel and Rebecca at age 14 in 1997. Nicola Doherty of England had her twins Courteney and Caitlyn April 20 1997 when she was 14.

Youngest Father of Twins
The youngest father of twins I could find is James Sutton of England, who was 13 when his girlfriend Sarah Drinkwater (age 17) had identical twins Leah and Louise in late 1999.

Oldest Mother and Father of Twins
The oldest mothers of twins I have found is Lin Fu-mei of Taiwan, who apparently had twins at age 59, as well as an unnamed woman from England who had twins on December 25 1993. Judy Cates of the USA had twins Maggi and Carli at age 57 on December 9 1998. Lynne Bezant of England had twins David and Susan on May 24 2001 at age 56. Marilyn Nolen had twins Travis and Ryan on March 22 2000 at age 55.

Company Employing The Most Twins
Cirque Du Soleil, a French Canadian circus with shows running in Las Vegas and Disneyworld, has 4 sets of twins working for them. Sarah and Karine Steben work in Las Vegas at O at the Bellagio hotel doing trapeze work. Elsie and Serenity Smith are touring Asia and the Pacific with the show Saltimbanco doing a trapeze act that the Steben twins originated. The Gutszmit twins, Daniel and Jacek, are identical males who do a hand balancing act in the Saltimbanco show. There is also a set of identical twin brothers, Bruce and Stacey Bilodeau working on the show at Disneyworld, called La Nouba. They perform on the German wheel, and appeared in Cirque's 1991 tour of Nouvelle Experience.

New York City's Twinsworld Restaurant employs 37 sets of twins, but seeing as that's a requirement to be hired, this category will focus on companies that employ twins that aren't in the "twin industry".