World's Tallest Man Ever (Officially Recorded)

Wadlow reached 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72 m) in height and weighed 439 lb (199 kg) at his death at age 22. His great size and his continued growth in adulthood were due to hyperplasia of his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone. He showed no indication of an end to his growth even at the time of his death.

Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940) also known as theAlton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was the tallest person in recorded historyfor whom there is irrefutable evidence. The Alton and Illinois monikers reflect the fact that he was born and raised in Alton, Illinois.

Wadlow was born to Addie Johnson and Harold Wadlow in Alton, Illinois, on February 22, 1918, and was the eldest of five children. He was taller than his father at age 8, and in elementary school they had to make a special desk for him due to his size. By the time he had graduated from Alton High School in 1936, he was 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m).[1] After graduating he enrolled in Shurtleff College with the intention of studying law.

Wadlow's size began to take its toll: he required leg braces to walk and had little feeling in his legs and feet. Despite these difficulties, he never used a wheelchair.

Wadlow became a celebrity after his 1936 U.S. tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus. In 1938, he did a promotional tour with the International Shoe Company (since 1966 called INTERCO). They provided him his shoes free of charge. Examples still exist in several locations throughout the US, including Snyder's Shoe Store of Ludington and Manistee, Michigan, and the Alton Museum of History and Art. He continued participating in tours and public appearances, though only in his normal street clothes. [5] He possessed great physical strength until the last year of his life, when his strength and his health in general began to deteriorate rapidly.[citation needed]


Wadlow was a member of the Order of DeMolay, the Masonic-sponsored organization for young men. He was also a Freemason. In 1939, he petitioned Franklin Lodge #25 in Alton, Illinois, and by late November of that year[6] was raised to the degree of Master Mason under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F and A.M.. His Freemason ring was the largest ever made.[citation needed]

One year before his death, Wadlow passed John Rogan as the tallest person ever. On June 27, 1940 (eighteen days before his death), he was measured at 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72 m) by doctors C. M. Charles and Cyril MacBryde of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.[citation needed]

On July 4, 1940, during a professional appearance at the Manistee National Forest Festival, a faulty brace irritated his ankle, causing a blister and subsequent infection. Doctors treated him with a blood transfusion and emergency surgery, but his condition worsened due to an autoimmune disorder, and on July 15, 1940, 11 days after contracting the infection, he died in his sleep at the age of 22.[citation needed] He was buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Upper Alton, Madison County, Illinois.