Tallest Man
WHO:
Robert Pershing Wadlow
WHAT:
2.72 m (8 ft 11 in)
WHERE:
Alton, Illinois, USA
WHEN:
Last measured on July 15, 1940
The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable
evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow. He was born at Alton, Illinois,
USA, on February 22, 1918, and when he was last measured on June
27, 1940, was found to be 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall.
Wadlow died at 1:30 a.m. on July 15, 1940, in a hotel in Manistee,
Michigan, as a result of a septic blister on his right ankle caused
by a brace, which had been poorly fitted only a week earlier. He
was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Alton, in a coffin measuring 3.28 m
(10 ft 9 in) long, 81 cm (32 in) wide and 76 cm (30 in) deep.
Wadlow's greatest recorded weight was 222.71 kg (35 st 1 lb) on his
21st birthday and he weighed 199 kg (31 st 5 lb) at the time of his
death. His shoe size was 37AA (47 cm, 18½ in long) and his hands
measured 32.4 cm (12¾ in) from the wrist to the tip of the middle
finger. He wore a size 25 ring. His arm span was 2.88 m (9 ft 5¾
in) and his peak daily food consumption was 8000 calories.
At the age of nine, he was able to carry his father Harold F.
Wadlow, later Mayor of Alton, who stood 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) and
weighed 77 kg (170 lb), up the stairs of the family home.
