How tall is the tallest man to ever exist? Guinness World Records shares picture
Premium‘The Giant of Illinois’ - Robert Wadlow, the tallest man in recorded history
It is always fascinating to look at people, things and events that give a very different perspective of the world; Highest, tallest, longest, biggest, largest all these superlative words excite our inquisitiveness. In a similar trend, a Twitter page called History in Color shared a picture of the tallest man to ever exist, Robert Wadlow, from 1935.
The US man recognised as "The Giant of Illinois," was the world's tallest man ever recorded by the Guinness World Records. Its website states that Wadlow has held the records since 1955. When last measured on June 27, 1940, he stood 8 feet, 11.1 inches (2.72 metres) tall. Wadlow was an incredible 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) tall at age five and required clothing for teenagers. At age eight, he passed his 5'11" father in height.
The Guinness World Records retweeted a post captioning, "Amazing picture of the tallest man who ever lived."
The picture shared on Twitter left the netizens amazed.
Mr. Wadlow had a condition that resulted in his pituitary gland hyperplasia, according to the Guinness World Records website. The human growth hormone level as a result was abnormally high.
As Robert grew older and taller, he developed a number of medical conditions that were exacerbated by his extraordinary height. Yet he made every effort as a young boy to participate in the same pursuits as his peers.
Wadlow passed away at age 22. He passed away on 15 July, 1940, in a hotel in Manistee, Michigan, as a result of a poorly fitted brace that had caused a septic blister on his right ankle just one week earlier.
