Robert Wadlow

Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940) was the tallest person who ever lived.

Robert Pershing Wadlow
postcard before 1937
Born	(1918-02-22)February 22, 1918 Alton, Illinois, USA
Died	July 15, 1940(1940-07-15) (aged 22) Manistee, Michigan, USA
Cause of death	Parasitic infection
Nationality	American
Education	Alton High School
Alma mater	Shurtleff College
Known for	Tallest verified human being
Height	272 cm (8 ft 11 in)
Parent(s)	Harold Franklin Wadlow Addie Johnson

Early life

Robert Pershing Wadlow was born to Addie Johnson and Harold Wadlow in Alton, Illinois on February 22, 1918, and was the oldest of five children. During elementary school, they had to make a special desk for him because of his size. In 1936, after graduating from Alton High School, he enrolled in Shurtleff College with the intention of studying law.

Height

Robert Wadlow was normal at birth but started growing abnormally when he was two, after a double hernia operation. He was six feet tall at age six. By the time he was 17, he was eight feet tall. Because he was so tall, he got lots of attention and became very famous, but his bones were very weak and he had to wear leg braces. In 1940, he was walking in a Fourth of July parade, when one of his braces made his ankle become infected; he died on the 15th of that month. When he died he was 8' 11.1".

Death

Wadlow died at the age of 22 in Michigan from a septic shock . Four days later, at his funeral, 40,000 people attended and it took 12 people to carry his coffin. People remember him as the "Gentle Giant" and there is a statue of him at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Dental Medicine. People now say Wadlow had something called gigantism, which made him so tall.

Robert Wadlow Media

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  Wadlow (left) at ten years old

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  Wadlow's shoe (US size 37 AA; UK size 36 or approximately European size 75) compared to a US size 12