A 114-year-old Los Angeles woman has become the oldest person in the world, hospital sources said on Saturday.

Gertrude Baines, a resident of a nursing home, assumed that title when a 115-year-old woman in Portugal died Friday.

Baines was born in 1894 when Grover Cleveland was U.S. president. Her parents were both slaves as children.

She cast a ballot for Barack Obama in November's presidential election, according to the local media report.

The previous holder of the title, a 115-year-old woman in Portugal named Maria de Jesus, died quietly after breakfast Friday.

Hospital officials said they are preparing for a flood of attention to their patient, Baines.

Baines' favorite hobbies were eating crispy bacon and occasionally watching "The Jerry Springer Show," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Guinness Book of World Records had said that prior to the Portugal woman's passing, Baines ranked number two.

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2008)