Robert Wadlow
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Wadlow (left) with his father (who was 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in))
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| Born | Robert Pershing Wadlow (1918-02-22)February 22, 1918
Alton, Illinois, U.S.
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| Died | July 15, 1940(1940-07-15) (aged 22)
Manistee, Michigan, U.S.[1]
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| Other names |
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| Occupation | Advertiser |
| Known for | Tallest verified human in recorded history |
| Height | 8 ft 11.1 in (272.0 cm) |
Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940), also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man who was the tallest personinrecorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. He was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small city near St. Louis, Missouri.[1]
Wadlow's height was 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72 m)[2][3][4] while his weight reached 439 lb (199 kg) at his death at age 22. His great size and his continued growth in adulthood were due to hypertrophy of his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone (HGH).
Wadlow was born in Alton, Illinois, on February 22, 1918, to Harold Franklin and Addie May (Johnson) Wadlow, and was the oldest of five children. He was taller than his father by age 8, and in elementary school a special desk was made for him. By the time of his graduation from Alton High School in 1936, he was 8 ft 4 in (254 cm).[1] He enrolled in Shurtleff College with the intention of studying law.
Wadlow required leg braces when walking and had little feeling in his legs and feet. He never used a wheelchair.[5]
Wadlow became a celebrity after his 1936 U.S. tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus, appearing at Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden in the center ring (never in the sideshow).[6] During his appearances, he dressed in his everyday clothes and refused the circus's request that he wear a top hat and tails.[6]
In 1938, he began a promotional tour with the International Shoe Company, which provided him shoes free of charge,[7] again only in his everyday street clothes.[8] Wadlow saw himself as working in advertising, not exhibiting as a freak.[6] He possessed great physical strength until the last few days of his life.[9][better source needed]
Wadlow belonged to the Order of DeMolay, the Masonic-sponsored organization for young men, and was later a Freemason. By November 1939,[10] Wadlow was a master mason under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. and A.M.
One year before his death, Wadlow passed John Rogan as the tallest person ever recorded. On June 27, 1940 (18 days before his death), he was measured by doctors at 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72 m).[1]
On July 4, 1940, during a professional appearance at the Manistee National Forest Festival, a faulty brace irritated his ankle, leading to infection. He was treated with a blood transfusion and surgery, but his condition worsened and he died in his sleep on July 15.[11][1]
His coffin measured 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) long by 2 ft 8 in (0.81 m) wide by 2 ft 6 in (0.76 m) deep, weighed over 1,000 lb (450 kg), and was carried by twelve pallbearers and eight assistants.[1][12][13] He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Alton, Illinois.
A life-size statue of Wadlow was erected opposite the Alton Museum of History and Art in 1986.[1][14]
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| Age | Height | Weight | Notes | Size of | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | 1 ft 8 in (0.51 m) | 8 lb 5 oz (3.8 kg)[15] | Normal height and weight | Average newborn | February 22, 1918 |
| 6 months | 2 ft10+1⁄2 in (0.88 m) | 30 lb (14 kg)[16] | 2-year-old | August 22, 1918 | |
| 1 year | 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) | 45 lb (20 kg) | When he began to walk at 11 months, he was 3 ft3+1⁄2 in (1.00 m) tall and weighed 40 lb (18 kg). | 5-year-old | February 22, 1919 |
| 18 months | 4 ft3+1⁄4 in (1.30 m) | 67 lb (30 kg)[16] | 8-year-old | August 22, 1919 | |
| 2 years | 4 ft6+1⁄4 in (1.38 m) | 75 lb (34 kg) | 10-year-old | 1920 | |
| 3 years | 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m) | 89 lb (40 kg) | 12-year-old | 1921 | |
| 4 years | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) | 105 lb (48 kg) | 14-year-old | 1922 | |
| 5 years | 5 ft6+1⁄2 in (1.69 m)[16] | 140 lb (64 kg)[16] | At 5 years of age, attending kindergarten, Wadlow was 5 ft6+1⁄2 in (1.69 m) tall. He wore clothes that would fit a 17-year-old boy. | 15-year-old | 1923 |
| 6 years | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | 146 lb (66 kg) | Height of average adult male (global average). | 1924 | |
| 7 years | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 159 lb (72 kg) | Height of average adult male in the United States. | 1925 | |
| 8 years | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[17] | 169 lb (77 kg)[17] | Height of average adult male in the Netherlands. | 1926 | |
| 9 years | 6 ft2+1⁄2 in (1.89 m)[17] | 180 lb (82 kg) | Weighing 180 lb (82 kg), he was strong enough to carry his father (who was sitting in a living room chair) up the stairs to the second floor.[18] | 1927 | |
| 10 years | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[19] | 211 lb (96 kg)[19] | 1928 | ||
| 11 years | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 241 lb (109 kg) | 1929 | ||
| 12 years | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)[20] | 287 lb (130 kg) | 1930 | ||
| 13 years | 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m)[21] | 270 lb (120 kg)[21] | World's tallest Boy Scout, averaging a growth of 4 inches (10 cm) per year since birth and wearing size 19 (U.S.) shoes.[22] | 1931 | |
| 14 years | 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) | 331 lb (150 kg) | 1932 | ||
| 15 years | 7 ft 10 in (2.39 m) | 354 lb (161 kg) | 1933 | ||
| 16 years | 8 ft1+1⁄4 in (2.47 m)[23] | 374 lb (170 kg) | 1934 | ||
| 17 years | 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)[24] | 382 lb (173 kg) | Graduated from high school on January 8, 1936 (not yet 18)[24] | Height of Sultan Kösen, tallest currently living man. | 1935 |
| 18 years | 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) | 391 lb (177 kg) | 1936 | ||
| 19 years | 8 ft6+1⁄2 in (2.60 m)[8] | 480 lb (220 kg)[8] | 1937 | ||
| 20 years | 8 ft7+1⁄4 in (2.62 m) | 488 lb (221 kg) | 1938 | ||
| 21 years | 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)[25] | 491 lb (223 kg)[25] | 1939 | ||
| 22.4 years | 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72 m)[26] | 439 lb (199 kg) | At death, he was the world's tallest man according to Guinness World Records.[2] | June 27, 1940 |
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| Preceded by | Tallest recognized person ever 1939–present |
Incumbent |
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