Richest Woman in the World

If you want to know the record holder for the richest woman in the world, then you're in the right place. Christy Walton tops the list of the wealthiest women in the world for the third time. Walton is worth $26.5 billion. Walton is the widow of Walmart scion John Walton, who died in a plane crash near the couple's Wyoming home in 2005, and hold the most wealth of the seven Walton relatives in this year's rankings.

Right behind her is L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, who moved up one spot to No. 2 of the richest women whose wealth is calculated at $23.5 billion. L'Oreal, founded by father Eugene Schueller in 1909 boasts 23 global brands including Maybelline, the Body Shop and Lancôme, and employs more than 64,000 people.

Following Bettencourt is another wealthy Walton at $21.2 billion. Alice Walton is the daughter of Sam Walton, who with his brother James, started a general store chain in Bentonville, Ark., in 1962. Today Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer, controlling more than $405 billion in annual sales. Walton collected roughly $420 million in dividends in 2010 and will rake in even more next year after the retailer raised its annual payouts by 20% starting this March.

Did you know that since 1953 the income gap between male and female workers has decreased considerably but remains relatively large. Women currently earn significantly more Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's degrees than men and almost as many Doctorates. Women are projected to have passed men in Doctorates earned in 2006-2007, and to earn nearly two thirds of Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's degrees by 2016. Despite this, some still argue that male workers still hold higher educational attainment, as the success of women in academia is a relatively new phenomenon.

Check also here the oldest civilization or the longest word. For a list of the most extreme known achievements in the planet, check our top world records.

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Oldest Civilization in the World

Longest Word in the World

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The ancient city states of Mesopotamia in the fertile crescent are most cited by Western and Middle Eastern scholars as the cradle of civilization. The convergence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers produced rich fertile soil and a supply of water for irrigation. The civilizations that emerged around these rivers are among the earliest known non-nomadic agrarian societies. Because Ubaid, Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylon civilizations all emerged around the Tigris-Euphrates, the theory that Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization has enjoyed some credence.

The rise of dynastic Egypt in the Nile Valley occurred with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in approximately 3200 BC, and ended at around 343 BC, at the start of the Achaemenid dynasty's control of Egypt. It is one of the three oldest civilizations in the world. Anthropological and archaeological evidence both indicate that the Kubbaniya culture was a grain-grinding culture farming along the Nile before the 10th millennium BC using sickle blades. But another culture of hunters, fishers and gathering peoples using stone tools replaced them. Evidence also indicates human habitation in the southwestern corner of Egypt, near the Sudan border, before 8000 BC.

The earliest-known farming cultures in the Indian Subcontinent emerged in Ancient India in the hills of Balochistan, on the border between modern-day Pakistan and Iran, which was once part of Ancient India. These semi-nomadic peoples domesticated wheat, barley, sheep, goat and cattle. Pottery was in use by the 6th millennium BC. The oldest granary yet found in this region was the Mehrgarh in the Indus Valley.

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