Robert Pershing Wadlow was the tallest man to ever live on Earth.Robert Pershing Wadlow is famously known as the Giant of Illinois, the Gentle Giant, and the Alton Giant. Robert Wadlow started to gain extreme height at a young age and became taller than his father by the age of eight years!Wadlow had four younger siblings, namely Eugene, Helen, Harold Jr, and Betty Jean. The last surviving and youngest sibling of Robert was Harold Wadlow Jr., who died in 2000 in Alton, Illinois. Harold had a deep affection for his older brother. The love was reciprocated as Harold Jr. was the apple of the eye of his eldest brother. In the early years of Robert’s life, his family lived briefly in Alton, Charleston, W. Va., Grafton, and then in Roxana, where he started elementary school and lived for six years. His middle name, Pershing, was named after General John J. Pershing, who was a commander in the European conflicts in World War I.Upon admission, Robert’s schools were trying to accommodate him. They added a block of wood to his desk in Milton to make him comfortable. This block is even on display at the Alton Museum of History and Art. Robert received his first mention in the Alton Telegraph at the age of eight, when he was 6 ft (1.8 m) tall and weighed 169 lb (76.6 kg). Being 6 ft (1.8 m) tall at the very young age of eight sets a record in itself, doesn’t it? If you are interested in learning more amazing facts on the world’s tallest man, you must continue reading.You can definitely check out our other fun facts articles on born in January and shamisen here on Kidadl!Who is the tallest man that ever lived?Robert Pershing Wadlow was the tallest man who ever lived on Earth. Wadlow was born on February 22, 1918. Robert Wadlow’s hometown is Alton, Illinois. He was the tallest man, with a height and weight of 8 ft 11 in (2.7 m) and 438 lb (198.7 kg).According to the Alton Museum of History, Robert Wadlow was born as a normal child with the height and weight of a normal baby. His parents, Addie Wadlow and Harold F. Wadlow, were of normal height. When he was six months old, he weighed 30 lb (13.6 kg), double the average baby boy’s body weight. Robert weighed 40 lb (18.1 kg) when he started walking for the first time in his life. At the age of five, Robert Wadlow was about 5 ft (152 cm) tall. He went for his first check-up before his 12th birthday at Barnes Hospital, where his family got to know about his overactive pituitary gland, which produces abnormally high-level growth hormone, which is why he was so tall.How old was the tallest man at death?The man who had the greatest height in the world didn’t live long. At the time of his death, Robert Wadlow, the tallest man in the world, was 22 years of age and living in Manistee, Michigan. Robert Wadlow is still remembered as a ‘Gentle Giant’ due to his kind behavior. His body was buried in Alton, Illinois, at Oakwood Cemetery. A life-size bronze statue was made by Edward Engelhard Giberson, showcasing Robert Wadlow.Wadlow started wearing clothes that could be the best fit for an average teenage boy when he was a five-year-old child. He gained admission to Alton High School, which is present-day Alton Middle School. As a teenager, Robert Wadlow was a member of the Order of DeMolay, a Masonic-run service organization. The coaches were worried he might get injured due to this. Robert Wadlow didn’t play basketball with his high school basketball team. While they ordered a special pair of basketball shoes for him, the season ended. They decide that Robert Wadlow will act as a ‘dropper’ during the game of pickup, standing at the end of the court and dropping the ball into the basket. After finishing high school, Robert Wadlow enrolled at Shurtleff College for a legal career, though he failed.Who is the tallest man on Earth in 2020?Sultan Kosen was 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m) tall when measured. Along with being the tallest man, he also holds the record for the tallest legs and arms at 14.4 in (36.5 cm) and 10.8 in (27.5 cm), respectively. Currently, he is 8 ft 3 in (2.5 m) tall, but US doctors announced in March that Kosen had stopped growing with the help of medication.Kosen, a Turkic of Kurdish descent, was born in Mardin, a city in southeastern Turkey. Due to his size, Kosen was unable to complete his training. He worked part-time as a farmer instead. He explains the benefits of being tall, being able to see far, and being able to help his family with household chores like changing light bulbs and hanging curtains.On the other hand, he lists flaws such as the inability to find bottoms for him measuring 49 in (124.5 cm) and 38 in (96.5 cm) sleeves or matching shoes: his left shoe size is 14.4 in (36.5 cm) and 13.9 in (35.5 cm) for the right leg shoe, while his arm is longest when measured in a living person, 11.2 in (28.5 cm).Due to the extraordinary length of his body, he could not sit in an average-sized car. Kosen was treated by Gamma Knife for his pituitary gland infection at the University of Virginia School of Medicine to control his excessive growth. The treatment has been confirmed to be effective in stopping Kosen’s growth.What is the height of the tallest woman in the world?Sandra Elaine Allen was the tallest woman in the world. She died at the age of 53. She was born on June 18, 1955. Sandra was the tallest woman in the world and is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as an American. She was 7 ft 7 in (2.3 m) tall. Her shoe size was 22. For the last 16 years of her life, Allen held the title of the tallest woman in the world. She was raised in Shelbyville, Indiana, and grew up with her grandmother, who worked as a cleaner. The height was due to a tumor in the pituitary gland causing it to release uncontrollable high levels of growth hormone, which is 200-1,000 times higher than normal.Rumeisa Gelgi, from Turkey, who is 7 ft 0.7 in (2.1 m) tall, has been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as ’the world’s tallest living woman’. She has been diagnosed with Weaver syndrome, which is a rare disease caused by growth hormones. The condition has weakened her ability to walk like a normal person. To move around or walk with the aid of a pedestrian skeleton, she needs a wheelchair by her side most of the time. Rumeisa’s unshakable passion and pride inspire many young people and even the elderly. She also made a lasting impression on Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records. Currently, Gelgi is the tallest woman in the world.The tallest woman who ever lived was Zeng Jinlian, from China, who measured 8 ft (2.4 m) before she died in 1982.Did You Know…Being different from others is not easy. By reading the life history of the Giant of Illinois, who lived in Alton, Illinois, you will get to know that even after getting his name recorded as the tallest man in the world, his father and family’s feelings were hurt many times. At a very young age, Robert Wadlow, the ‘Gentle Giant’, gained a height of 8 ft (2.4 m) and was able to pick up his father, Mr. Harold F. Wadlow.At the Manistee National Forest Festival, Robert felt a faulty brace that irritated his ankle, and later on, it led to a foot infection. In his freshman year, he missed several weeks of classes due to a stay at Barnes Hospital because of his foot infection. He later dropped out in January 1936.In 1938, Wadlow filed a federal defamation lawsuit against a doctor at Barnes Hospital and the New York Times, in St. Joseph, Missouri. They said that doctors described Robert as ‘mean and moody’ and ‘surly, careless, and annoyed’ during the visit. They lost the case, in addition to filing another libel lawsuit against Time Magazine by Robert’s father, which was dismissed later. Harold Jr. later told ‘Boy Giant’ writer Brannon that the family knew they weren’t going to win the case, but they wanted an apology from Time Magazine. This helps them deal with pain and hurt feelings.The tallest NBA player, Romanian Gheorghe Mureșan is 7 ft 7 in (2.3 m) tall.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! 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Robert Pershing Wadlow was the tallest man to ever live on Earth.
