Robert Wadlow
Template:Short description Template:Pp Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 Template:Ndash July 15, 1940), also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man. He is the tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. Wadlow was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small city near St. Louis, Missouri.<ref name="museum"/>
Wadlow's height was Template:Convert<ref name="Guinness"/><ref name="Worlds Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="roadside">Template:Cite web</ref> while his weight reached Template:Convert 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).
Early life
Wadlow was born in Alton, Illinois, on February 22, 1918, to Harold Franklin and Addie May (Johnson) Wadlow, with a typical birth weight of Template:Convert<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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. His pituitary gland condition was diagnosed at the age of twelve. At the time, corrective surgery was dangerous and not guaranteed to work so his parents decided against intervening.<ref name="Guinness World Records 2005">Template:Cite book</ref> He was involved in a high school German and Camera club before his graduation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By the time of his graduation from Alton High School in 1936, he was Template:Convert.<ref name="museum"/> He enrolled in Shurtleff College with the intention of studying law.
Adulthood
Wadlow required leg braces when walking and had little feeling in his legs and feet, but he never used a wheelchair.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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).<ref name= "nickell">Template:Cite book</ref> During his appearances, he dressed in his everyday clothes and refused the circus's request that he wear a top hat and tails.<ref name="nickell"/>
In 1938, he began a promotional tour with the International Shoe Company, which provided him shoes free of charge,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> again only in his everyday street clothes.Template:Sfn Wadlow saw himself as working in advertising, not exhibiting as a freak.<ref name= "nickell"/> He possessed great physical strength until the last few days of his life.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template: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,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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 Template:Convert.<ref name="museum"/>
Death
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.Template:Sfn<ref name="museum"/>
His coffin measured Template:Convert long by Template:Convert wide by Template:Convert deep, weighed over Template:Convert, and was carried by twelve pallbearers and eight assistants.<ref name="museum"/><ref name="guiness2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Hartzman 2006 p. 432">Template:Cite book</ref> He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Alton, Illinois.
Legacy
A life-size statue of Wadlow was erected opposite the Alton Museum of History and Art in 1986.<ref name= "museum"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is one of the Guinness World Records ICONS of 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Height chart
Template:More citations needed section
| Age | Height | Weight | Notes | Size of | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | Template:Height | Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn | Normal height and weight | Average newborn | February 22, 1918 |
| 6 months | Template:Height | Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn | 2-year-old | August 22, 1918 | |
| 1 year | Template:Height | Template:Convert | When he began to walk at 11 months, he was Template:Height tall and weighed Template:Convert. | 5-year-old | February 22, 1919 |
| 18 months | Template:Height | Template:Convert<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199151"/> | 8-year-old | August 22, 1919 | |
| 2 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | 10-year-old | 1920 | |
| 3 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | 12-year-old | 1921 | |
| 4 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | 14-year-old | 1922 | |
| 5 years | Template:Height<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199151"/> | Template:Convert<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199151"/> | At 5 years of age, attending kindergarten, Wadlow was Template:Height tall. He wore clothes that would fit a 17-year-old boy. | 15-year-old | 1923 |
| 6 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | Height of average adult male (global average). | 1924 | |
| 7 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | Height of average adult male in the United States. | 1925 | |
| 8 years | Template:HeightTemplate:Sfn | Template:Convert<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199152"/> | Height of average adult male in the Netherlands. | 1926 | |
| 9 years | Template:Height<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199152"/> | Template:Convert | Weighing Template:Convert, he was strong enough to carry his father (who was sitting in a living room chair) up the stairs to the second floor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1927 | |
| 10 years | Template:Height<ref name="Pittsburg Press 1928-10-28">Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Convert<ref name="Pittsburg Press 1928-10-28"/> | 1928 | ||
| 11 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | 1929 | ||
| 12 years | Template:HeightTemplate:Sfn | Template:Convert | 1930 | ||
| 13 years | Template:HeightTemplate:Sfn | Template:Convert<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199155"/> | World's tallest Boy Scout, averaging a growth of Template:Convert per year since birth and wearing size 19 (U.S.) shoes.<ref name="scout">Template:Cite journal</ref> | 1931 | |
| 14 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | 1932 | ||
| 15 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | 1933 | ||
| 16 years | Template:HeightTemplate:Sfn | Template:Convert | 1934 | ||
| 17 years | Template:HeightTemplate:Sfn | Template:Convert | Graduated from high school on January 8, 1936 (not yet 18)<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199158"/> | Sultan Kösen, who is, as of 2024, the tallest currently living man. | 1935 |
| 18 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | 1936 | ||
| 19 years | Template:HeightTemplate:Sfn | Template:Convert<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199160"/> | 1937 | ||
| 20 years | Template:Height | Template:Convert | 1938 | ||
| 21 years | Template:HeightTemplate:Sfn | Template:Convert<ref name="FOOTNOTEDrimmer199166"/> | 1939 | ||
| 22.4 years | Template:HeightTemplate:Sfn | Template:Convert | At death, he was the world's tallest man, according to Guinness World Records.<ref name="Guinness">Template:Cite web at Wayback Machine</ref> | June 27, 1940 |
See also
- Acromegaly
- Gigantism
- List of tallest people
- Trijntje Keever, the alleged tallest woman in recorded history
- Zeng Jinlian, the tallest woman officially confirmed by Guinness World Records in recorded history
- Sultan Kösen, the tallest man alive
- Siddiqa Parveen
References
Further reading
External links
- Template:IMDb name
- Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore
- Footage of Robert Wadlow
- Alton Museum of History and Art article
- Graveyards.com: Upper Alton Cemetery
Template:S-start Template:S-ach Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-inc Template:S-end
Template:Ripley's Believe It or Not! Template:Authority control