Historical Heights

Jimmy_ESB_ said on 1/Sep/23
Louis XVI was a towering figure. He was five foot ten in 18th century units, which is actually almost 6ft 3

Sandy Cowell said on 26/Aug/23
Re: Dick Turpin - That should have read 1739! (The year Dick was sentenced to death for stealing three horses).

Sandy Cowell said on 26/Aug/23
Dick Turpin - 21st September, 1705 - 7th April, 1939

Dick Turpin stood approximately 5ft9 tall. He was an infamous highwayman and was executed for horse theft at age 33

Tawehret said on 28/May/23
Hey rob this is a great side of celebheights, so I think Carson James cook was a tall man? Apparently 6 feet. What do u think

Sandy Cowell said on 31/Jan/23
Yesterday, 374 years ago, Charles I was beheaded, having lost the English Civil War. At 163cm he was the shortest English King, apart from the children who came to the throne.
The poor guy asked for an extra layer of clothing because he didn’t want the spectators to think he was shivering with fear on the freezing January morning.

I always felt sorry for him when I read about the English Civil War at school, and I still do. R

Sandy Cowell said on 7/Jan/23
Actually, I’ve found out that Vincent Van Gogh died from a shotgun wound to the belly. It’s never been proved that it was self inflicted, but it is widely believed to have been. The wound was inflicted on the 27th July, 1890 and the tragic artist died two days later.

On the way back from the shop yesterday, I had Don McLean’s sad song, Vincent, in my head, so I played it when I arrived home. If you find it on YouTube, not only can you hear the songs and read the lyrics, but you can take a look at some of van Gogh’s artwork. His paintings really are beautiful! I can never warm to this modern art rubbish.

Vincent was born on 30th March, 1853. He was never married and had no children, but he had two longstanding relationships one, named Sien, of whom was originally a prostitute. Sien was a mother and modelled for his paintings.

The 5ft7 artist had one brother, named Theodorus.

Nembokid said on 21/Dec/22
Leonardo da Vinci is listed also as 6' 4½" (1m94)

Sandy Cowell said on 10/Nov/22
King John (Reigned from 1199 until 1216, and was born in 1166).

I always jokingly say ‘Popular King John’ when I’m talking about this King because he was anything but! His dates are super easy to remember when you realise that he was born 100 years after the Battle of Hastings and 500 years before the Great Fire of London, which in effect, put an end to the Bubonic Plague for Englanders.

King John was the son of Henry II and Eleanor of
Aquitaine, and took to the throne in 1199 at the age of 32, as his birthday was on Christmas Eve. His reign was anything but Christmassy though, as in order to raise an army, he sent taxes sky high, and the nobility who were the ones affected were steaming! The Magna Carta was signed in June 1215, and it stated that no man was above the law, including the King (no Queen had reigned as yet) and his governors, everybody was entitled to a fair trial and no person could be arrested or exiled without good reason.

King John stood 5ft5. This was a colossal contrast to his elder brother, Richard the Lionheart, who was reputed to have measured a colossal 6ft5. Richard reigned from 1189 until 1199, dying in battle in France at the Battle of Chalus. Richard was indeed a courageous King and his emblem with the three lions is still of significance and instantly recognisable today.

King John is ‘The King who Died of Diarrhoea’’! (dysentery). After such a turbulent and controversial reign, I’d like to know what the feelings of his people were when this got out! He is far and away the most unpopular and unsuccessful monarch EVER!

Arch Stanton said on 4/Aug/22
Rob is there any chance you could create a sub page of this and we can add a bigger list of entries? There's some good suggestions in the comments. I didn't realise Tesla was that tall.

Sandy C said on 2/Aug/22
@ Pattinsonfan 2020 - I, too, found 6ft2.5 for Thomas Jefferson, I haven’t found anything higher for him. My goodness, that was tall for an 18th century man, and what a great man he was, too.

Thomas Jefferson
2nd February, 1743 - 4th August, 1826

@. Rob - Thomas Jefferson would make a worthy addition to Historical Heights, if you please!

Sandy C said on 2/Aug/22
@ Arch Stanton - I came across Sergei Rachmaninov’s height the other day when I was trying to find the height of Gustav Holst. Rachmaninov lived from 1873 until 1943, so it wasn’t THAT long ago, but he was still a giant! I’m not familiar with his music as yet, but there is always time…..

Ironically, I was playing Chopin when I read your comment, but I did listen to the composition you sent - excellent! Now I’m having more of the same. 😁

My Mum only ever played classical music when I was really little, and nursery rhymes for me, which I took straight off the turntable as I thought they were stupid! I didn’t get into popular music until I was 5 and a half (when I stayed with my Dad and his girlfriend) and I couldn’t work out why the songs were so short or why they sang about love all the time. I’d seen none of that between my parents, but my Dad had found someone else, and she did make him happy. They raised three lovely sons, all of whom are successful. My Dad and stepmum are now buried together - a real love story.

My Dad, too, was extremely fond of classical music.

Cheers Arch, and thank you so very much for your thoughtful reply. It made me very excited to see such a response on the Historical Heights page. 😉

Arch Stanton said on 1/Aug/22
I read Liszt was 6 ft Sandy, hadn't read 185. But I know he was tall for his era. Very popular with the ladies too. One of the most virtuosic pianists of all time, it wasn't uncommon for him to practice the piano 16 hours a day LOL. Chopin always looked sickly and sunken faced but also one of the most dazzling pianists ever! This IMO is one of the greatest compositions ever composed Click Here Rachmaninov was 6 ft 6 and had a massive 13 note reach on the piano. I can reach 12 notes and have big hands, 13 is giant territory! The Argentinian virtuoso Daniel Barenboim can only reach 9 notes but I wish I could play like him! The jazz pianist Erroll Garner was only 5 ft 2 apparently, remains a giant of the genre though.

Sandy C said on 1/Aug/22
Franz Liszt

Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, who like Chopin,hailed from the Romantic Era, stood all of 185cm. He lived from 1811 until 1886, dying of pneumonia at the age of 74 and three quarters.

Sandy C said on 1/Aug/22
Frederic Chopin

The Polish composer, who lived from 1810 - 1849, and was plagued by tuberculosis throughout his life, stood 170cm tall.
Famous for his piano concertos, his music was used as the theme for The Godfather.

Sandy C said on 14/Jul/22
Bastille Day - 14th July, 1789.

233 years ago today, the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris took place.

This led to the French Revolution and the abolition of the monarchy some 2 and-a-half years later, when King Louis XVI
and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, famous for angering the citizens by saying “Let them eat cake….”, were beheaded
by guillotine.

Louis was believed to have been between 185cm to 190cm, or even more and Marie was anything from 159cm to 168cm. These were the figures concluded from looking at their robes.

Happy Bastille Day to all French visitors! It is still celebrated to this day.

pattinsonfan2022 said on 2/Jul/22
How tall was Thomas Jefferson? He is usually listed at 6'2.5, rounded up to 6'3.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 2/May/22
@ Chaos Control - Further to your Christmas Day comment from last year, I’ve read a few instances in which famous condemned people have been measured AFTER decapitation, when their heads will have been swollen. Nuts, don’t you think? Models of the severed heads, or ‘death heads’, as they were called, were taken post mortem, many of which remain to this day in museums.

Now how can you take a height measurement like THAT?

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 24/Apr/22
Queen Victoria (24 May 1819 - 22 January 1901)

It is commonly known that Queen Victoria was only 5ft tall, but not quite so infamous that she thoroughly disliked being this height. It didn’t exactly help her to keep her weight down!

I found out a fact this week that her eldest child, also called Victoria, and who was to marry the German Frederick III, was briefly named ‘Pussy’, 🐈‍⬛ doubtless when she was a youngster! Pussy was born on 21 November 1840 and lived until 5 August 1901, dying shortly after her mother. 😿

I couldn’t find Pussy’s height, alas, but will continue trying….

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 12/Feb/22
Charles Darwin.

Not only was President Abraham Lincoln born on this day in 1809; it happens also to be the birth date of English naturalist, biologist and evolutionist, the great Charles Darwin.

Darwin stood an estimated 6ft, but did so much stooping during the course of his lifetime's work and research that he looked shorter. He had an honourable burial at Westminster Abbey - next to Sir Isaac Newton - after dying in pain of a heart attack after suffering a series of heart attacks the year before.

He changed the way evolution was understood, and in those days, this was revolutionary.

Darwin had 10 children.

RIP Charles Darwin. 🕯️ 🏅
12th February 1809 - 19th April 1882.

ChaosControl1 said on 27/Dec/21
It’s crazy to think that I’d probably be considered a giant only a few hundred years ago

Chaoscontrol 6'2.75/190cm said on 25/Dec/21
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 23/Dec/21
@ Chaoscontrol 6ft2.75 (Good height!)

Sometimes, the things one finds on the internet can be rather skewiff. I have found heights so variable that it's hard to know what to believe, but if Vladimir Nabokov was measured in at 188cm in 1977 when they made the guy's coffin, I'd rather go with that measurement.

Furthermore, I found an interesting chart all about the heights of writers. They agreed with Nabokov's 188cm, so he was likely considerably taller when young.

Thanks for joining in, Chaoscontrol and a very Merry Christmas to you!

You too

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 23/Dec/21
@ Chaoscontrol 6ft2.75 (Good height!)

Sometimes, the things one finds on the internet can be rather skewiff. I have found heights so variable that it's hard to know what to believe, but if Vladimir Nabokov was measured in at 188cm in 1977 when they made the guy's coffin, I'd rather go with that measurement.

Furthermore, I found an interesting chart all about the heights of writers. They agreed with Nabokov's 188cm, so he was likely considerably taller when young.

Thanks for joining in, Chaoscontrol and a very Merry Christmas to you! 😉🎄

Chaoscontrol 6'2.75/190cm said on 23/Dec/21
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Dec/21
Stephen Fry was discussing the Russian novelist and butterfly enthusiast, Vladimir Nabokov, in tonight's QI on the Dave Channel.

I found two heights for Vladimir - 180cm and 188cm, the latter being taken at his death in 1977 at the age of 78, so I rather think it's correct!

Could be 188 peak 180 when he died, 2 inches by 78 is reasonable

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Dec/21
Stephen Fry was discussing the Russian novelist and butterfly enthusiast, Vladimir Nabokov, in tonight's QI on the Dave Channel.

I found two heights for Vladimir - 180cm and 188cm, the latter being taken at his death in 1977 at the age of 78, so I rather think it's correct!

Nabokov wrote the novel 'Lolita', taking some 6 years to complete. It was generally banned in 1958. He's also noted for translating Alexander Pushkin's novel, 'Eugene Onegin' into English.

Now why was he being discussed on QI, to make the audience laugh so much? He was an avid collector of butterfly penises! His collection is still around to learn from today. 😆👌🦋

Vladimir Nabokov
(23rd April 1899 - 2nd July 1977)

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 26/Nov/21
Another poet from the Romantic Era of poetry was William Wordsworth. He was born on the 7th April, 1770 and died on either the 23rd March or April, 1850 - I've read both.

Famous for his ode 'I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud', also known as 'Daffodils', Wordsworth stood 5ft9.5 tall. The aforementioned poem described a walk that he took with his sister, Dorothy. The siblings were so close that Dorothy lived with her brother and his wife, Mary Hutchinson, until William's death in 1850. Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are the poets considered most influential to the Romantic Movement in the history of poetry.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 26/Nov/21
Poet John Keats, from the Romantic Movement of poetry, was only 152cm tall, or 5ft.

He was born on the 31st October, 1795, tragically passing away from tuberculosis on the 23rd February, 1821, aged just 25.

His most notable poems include Ode To A Nightingale and (Ode) To Autumn.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/Nov/21
Infamous escape artist, Harry Houdini, birth name - Erik WeiszMarch - was born on 24th March 1874 in Budapest, Hungary. Known for being the greatest magician/illusionist of the 20th Century, Houdini's dressing room was invaded by Montreal student, J Gordon Whitehead, on the 22nd October 1926. Houdini was punched in the stomach, dying 9 days later of peritonitis. Ironically, the date was Halloween.

Houdini stood 5ft7 and weighed in at 11 stone 2.5 pounds. The blue-eyed, brown-haired inventor and musician was buried in New York.

⭐ Mike Oldfield's hit song 'Moonlight Shadow', sung by Scottish singer, Maggie Reilly, is about the attempts by Houdini's wife to contact him after his death, aged 52.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 6/Nov/21
@ ChaosControl - I read that he could have stood as tall as 6ft7 in his armour, so yes, indeed he'd highly likely have been a strong 6ft5 without his boots.

Chaoscontrol. said on 6/Nov/21
If his skeleton was 6’4.5 after hundreds of years of degradation he could’ve been over 6’5 in life

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 5/Nov/21
Catherine of Aragon and daughter Mary the First.

Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife, was the tallest of his six wives and thought to have stood a very tall (especially for the 15th and 16th Centuries) 5ft10. She was a Spaniard and was previously married to Henry's elder brother, Arthur, which played havoc with Henry's religious beliefs. She used to fast in the cause of righteousness for long periods of time, and many historians believe that could have led to her many miscarriages. Today, we'd have considered her anorexic. She didn't feel at home in England, but she was loved by her people.

She had one surviving child, Princess Mary, later to be known as Bloody Mary for putting people to death for practicing Protestantism. She generally burnt them at the stake. Mary was born on the 18th February, 1516. I've read that Mary, who came to the throne when her brother Edward VI, known as 'The Boy King' died at 15 from consumption. He took the English throne upon his father's death in 1547, and was described as a sickly child. He was crowned at age 9 on the 28th January, 1547. His mother, Jane Seymour, died shortly after he was born, and was Henry's favourite wife. They are buried together in St George's Chapel, Windsor.

I've read that Catherine of Aragon's daughter stood 5ft6. She was described at the age of 7 as 'a tall child'.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 5/Nov/21
The tallest English King EVER was King Edward IV. His skeleton measured all of 6ft4.5. He was married to Elizabeth Woodville, famed for being the most beautiful Queen known to grace British soil. Edward and Elizabeth had 10 children in all, including Elizabeth of York, whom the first Tudor King, Henry VII, married to strengthen his claim to the throne, which was tentative at best.

So THAT'S where son Henry VIII got his famous height! He is believed to have been at least 6ft1, which in those days was very tall indeed, so can you imagine how tall Edward looked? 🤭

Edward IV was born in April 1442. His reign was split in that he and Elizabeth had to flee up north for safety. These are the dates of his reigns: 1461-1470 and then again in April 1471 until his passing in 1483.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 15/Sep/21
The infamous crime novel writer, Agatha Christie, was born 131 years ago on this day, the 15th September, 1890. Agatha stood all of 5'6", fairly tall for those times. She lived for 85 years.

RIP Agatha Christie 🕯️ 📘📝📙
(15th September 1890 - 12th January 1976)

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 15/Sep/21
⭐Marco Polo⭐

On this day, 767 years ago, the explorer Marco Polo was born in Venice, Italy. Polo was the first European to keep a detailed diary of his ventures in China 🐼, and was a great inspiration to Christopher Columbus, who was born 197 years after Polo, in the town of Genoa.

The intrepid explorer stood 5'3" from the ground and lived for 69 years and 3 and 2/3 months.

RIP Marco Polo 🕯️ 🌏🌍👌
(15th September, 1254 - 8th or 9th January, 1324).

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/Sep/21
488 years ago today, Elizabeth I was born.

With a father, King Henry VIII, who is believed to have stood a couple of inches either side of 6'2", and a mother, Anne Boleyn, whose speculated height was 5' - 5'3", Elizabeth could have measured anything in the normal to fairly tall range.

Elizabeth, who made so much difference to the English lifestyle, introducing religious tolerance, theatre and poetry, and she supported and encouraged the English explorers. The redheaded Queen refused countless wealthy suitors' marriage proposals, saying she was 'married to her Country'. Having to live with the knowledge that her mother was executed at the orders of her own father, it put Elizabeth off marriage. Her half-sister, 17 years her senior, Mary I, dubbed 'Bloody Mary' (reigned from 1553-1558), who tried her best to restore the Catholic faith to England, insodoing burning Protestants and having them killed in other dreadful ways, moulded Elizabeth's beliefs for tolerance and peace.

If I had to pick my favourite monarch of all time, it would be her. I hope I soon find out her height, which will more than likely be only an approximation.

RIP Elizabeth I 🕯️ 👸👑
(7th September 1533 - 24th March 1603)
Reigned from 1558 - 1603.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 9/Jul/21
Lady Margaret Beaufort. (1443-1509).

The mother of Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, and grandmother to Henry VIII, the four times married Lady Margaret Beaufort is reputed to have been 180cm. Giving birth at just 13, insodoing nearly dying, didn't interfere with her growth pattern.

The earliest life-size painting from the 15th Century is of Lady Margaret and, coupled with the dimensions of her coffin, historians have deducted that she stood this height. Perhaps she passed her tall genes onto her grandson, Henry VIII. Reports of his height range from 6ft to 6ft4, a mighty height for a man from the 16th Century. He came to the throne in 1509, aged 17/18 and reigned until 1547.

Nik Ashton said on 19/Jun/21
@ Ian Vector - I’m surprised it was that high. How tall are you?

ChaosControl 6'2.50 said on 19/Jun/21
@Ian so if Jesus met me he’d think I was a giant? That’s cool

Ian Vector said on 17/Jun/21
The average male height around 0 AD was about 5’ 5”, so yeah. If you’re 6’ 3”, you’d be a giant back then.

ChaosControl 6'2.5/189.2cm said on 27/May/21
So I’m 6’2-6’3. Was there any point in history where I would’ve been considered a giant? I’d like to know when and where

Lava said on 25/May/21
Jeanne D'Arc. 171 cm. 54 kg.

Spooner said on 26/Apr/21
Hey Rob, do you think way back in the 18th century they would measure/describe people as their height barefoot, or in shoes? I just feel like back then people would see their height in footwear as their true height, and maybe that's why George Washington was confidently described at 6ft 2in. Do you know at all if that's true or not?

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 17/Apr/21
Average height of a Spartan Warrior:-

I have found out that the average height for a man from Sparta (5th Century BC) was anything from 5ft7 to 5ft10. This estimate is the result of how the weaponry used by the brave fighters would have been positioned on their bodies.

Considering the height of the average Viking man is thought to have been a scant 5ft6, and woman 5ft1, and that they invaded Britain in 793 AD, we have evidence that the Greeks tended to be extremely tall all of 1.300 years EARLIER. Their standards of living and education was so superior that the great Greek philosophers still have an enormous influence on history today. Perhaps, in fact I'd say almost certainly, they had developed infinitely better diets due to their advanced minds, bravery on the battlefield, - you can't win a fight and gain territory if you're malnourished - and their society as a whole, though one is given to wondering that this would have been unlikely in all Greek regions, and that poverty is bound to have existed, lowering the heights of the less affluent.

⭐ Even the Vikings were rather tall for their time when you think that, in the late 19th century AD, (1888 to be precise), some 1,100 years later than the onset of the Viking invasion, the recorded heights of Jack the Ripper's victims were around 4ft9" - 4ft11", and the one woman who, at 5ft3", stood out as particularly tall among her peers was dubbed 'Long Liz', demonstrating that such a height was indeed a rarity among the lower classes a mere 133 years ago.

Spooner said on 12/Apr/21
George Washington had a fellow soldier in 1760 who wrote "Washington may be described as being straight as an Indian, measuring six feet two inches in his stockings, and weighing 175 pounds". Very interesting.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 31/Mar/21
168 years ago yesterday, 30th March 1853, Dutch post impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh was born. Not uncommon with his strain of genius, Vincent suffered from chronic manic depression, stifling his creativity to a degree. He painted approximately 2100 art pieces, around 860 of which were in oils. Van Gogh produced a large proportion of his artworks in the final two years of his life.

The artist died from complications after he shot himself in the chest, aged 37.

He stood 5ft7/170cm tall.

RIP Vincent Van Gogh 🕯️💐 XX
30th March 1853 - 29th July 1890

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 22/Feb/21
George Washington, who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, was born 289 years ago today. He was America's first ever President. George didn't quite see in the 19th Century, passing away in the December of 1799 at the age of 67.

RIP George Washington 🕯️ XX 👌😁🥇🇺🇸
22nd February 1732 - 14th December 1799

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 9/Feb/21
There was a question on The Chase as to which author said, "I want to create a character as small and as plain as myself."?

The answer was Charlotte Brontë, who lived in the 19th Century. I checked out her height and found that she was a tiny 147cm. I saw a depiction of her too, and she wasn't plain at all!

RIP Charlotte Brontë 🕯️
21st April 1816 - 31st March 1855, dying at just 38. How sad.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 8/Feb/21
Yuck! In my comment regarding Charles Dickens, I should have read that he was born 209 years ago! 😣

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/Feb/21
The famous 5ft8 Victorian author, who described so vividly how times were like for people, especially children, back in his day, was born 109 years ago today.
He lived for only 58 years, hardly unusual back then, but it still seems sad as it was only 150/151 years since his death.

RIP Charles Dickens 🕯️
7th February 1812 - 9th July 1870.

ChaosControl 6'2 1/2 said on 27/Jan/21
Corpses tend to measure longer than they were tall in life, especially is they were heavy for their height (don’t know about Washington, I’m not American and never met the guy)

ChaosControl 6'2 1/2 said on 27/Jan/21
Leonardo Da Vinci being 5’9 surprises me, I read somewhere that he was 6’4

Duhon said on 26/Jan/21
How accurate were height measurements in the 18th century anyways? Doubt they had Big Rob's stadiometer back then. People probably did get different measurements back then depending on who took down their heights. I can believe Washington was easily well over 6', his height was noted by many of his contemporaries.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 25/Jan/21
⭐ Today, 8 of my lifetimes* ago, Henry VIII was still on the throne, and 9 of my lifetimes ago, the Tudors weren't even reigning. It seems like NOTHING!

On the other hand, 33-and-a-half of my lifetimes ago, Jesus was still with us. Now that DOES seem a long time ago, but when you compare it to the age of life on Earth, it's just a few drops of water in the bucket of time... 🗺️

Now that was my 'Birthday Extravaganza'!

*As of today, 1 of my lifetimes is 60 years.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 25/Jan/21
Again, we get round to the Birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns, who stood 178cm tall and died at the tragically early age of 37.

This year, 262 years after his birth, I'd like to add a bit more about him. The number of children born to him were, in fact, twelve and not ten as I previously stated, by four different mums. The youngest one was called Maxwell Burns, and he arrived while Robert's funeral was taking place, four days after his death, (21st July) on the 25th July, 1796. Sadly, little Maxwell lived exactly two and three quarter years. Two died so close to birth that they weren't even named.

Robert himself died of rheumatic fever, a consequence of falling asleep in the pouring rain at the roadside of a motorway after a particularly rigorous drinking session.

The poet has over 900 ancestors!

Robert Burns 🕯️
25th January 1759 - 21st July 1796

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 23/Jan/21
John Hancock, famous as Founding Father and Patriot of the American Revolution, was born 284 years ago today. His father died when he was still a little boy - probably about 7 - and his uncle took over raising the child. When John's uncle died, he left his nephew a highly successful business.

John was the first and third Governor of Massachusetts and the President of the Continental Congress, the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution.

I've tried to find out his height, but I could only trace the height of a statue of him, which was completed by famous sculptor Horatio Stone, which was completed in 1761. The artwork measures 6ft4.75 inches, and could indeed reflect John's actual height, in which case he was pretty much a giant for his era.

RIP John Hancock 🗽🇱🇷
23rd January 1737 - 8th October 1793

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 12/Jan/21
Convicted War criminal, Hermann Goring, who was leader of the Nazi Party, commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, and Prime Minister of Prussia, amongst other things, was born 128 years ago today.

Gory Goring stood 178cm tall.

He was a fighter pilot in the First World War and received the 'Pour le Merite' for his efforts.

Self-indulgent in the extreme, Goring was one of many wounded in 1923 at Hitler's unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch and this resulted in a dependency on morphine and morphine-related painkilling drugs.

Goring was found guilty of conspiracy, War crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against Humanity at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to be hanged, but he smuggled a cyanide tablet into the prison, which he took a matter of hours before his planned execution.

🔥 Hermann Wilhelm Goring lived from 12th January, 1893 to the 15th October, 1945. 🔥

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 1/Jan/21
Hello all you history enthusiasts and a Happy New Year to you all!

We start 2021 off with a birthday, that of J Edgar Hoover, who was born 126 years ago today. Hoover was the head of the FBI for 8 days short of 48 years and was an excellent and productive leader. He was born in Washington DC, living there all his life, and educated at Washington University, specialising in law enforcement. There was much tittle-tattle about his personal life; it was believed that he dressed up in women's clothing, but so what? If he did, it didn't impair his leadership! He lived with his mother until he was 40.

He stood 171cm tall and lived to 77, dying peacefully in his sleep.

RIP John Edger Hoover 🕯️🏅👍
1st January, 1895 - 2nd May, 1972

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Dec/20
📖❄️ As regards my comment from 15th December, I think the source from where I found that there were only four white Christmases throughout the whole of the 20th Century is inaccurate. For a start, my weather-mad brother thinks it's closer to seven and then there's another snippet of information I'd like to share with you.

I think I was probably in my early twenties when I found out that if a single snowflake settles on a particular relevant place to do with weather records on December the 25th, IT COUNTS AS A WHITE CHRISTMAS! If you ask me, that's utter cr@p. In the early 19th Century, we were still in a mini ice age. This started in 1303 and ended around 1860 (dates are approximate) and effected Europe and North America. It meant that there were far more snow flurries in December. Snow is far more likely to fall from January to April, and statistics show that a white Easter is more common than a white Christmas.

❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 15/Dec/20
❄️ It's teeming down with hail where I live. It's not festive enough for Christmas really, and, although we only had four white Christmases last Century, we might wonder who or what is to blame for this desirable state of affairs - The White Christmas.

Many feel we have the 5ft8" Charles Dickens to thank for this. Born in on the 7th February, 1812, Charles John Huffam Dickens's first few Christmases were white. In 1814, the Thames froze over so solidly that the folk were able to skate on it, hold market stalls on it and even walk an elephant on the freezing ice! 🐘 Though it's hard to believe he actually remembered it at nearly three years of age, (though not impossible), the celebrations will have been talked about for many years to come. The young Charles, who went on to father ten children, still saw many a childhood White Christmas.

RIP Charles 🕯️⛄⛸️ XXX
7/2/1812 - 9/6/1870

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 11/Dec/20
Today, 228 years ago, the last French monarch, Louis XVI, went on trial for treason against the people. Just over a month later, he was guillotined.

I found an astronomical 193cm for Louis XVI!

He was born on the 23rd August 1754, came to the throne on the 10th May, 1774 and ceased being King on the 21st September, 1792.

RIP Louis 🕯️
23/8/1754 - 21/1/1793 (aged 38)

Duhon said on 7/Dec/20
George Washington seems to be listed at 6'2"-6'3" by most other sources. I wonder if in his era anyone over 6' would just refer to themselves as simply "6 feet"? As that would have still be quite tall for that era.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 7/Dec/20
Washington is a pure unknown...described anywhere from 6ft to 6ft5!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/Dec/20
Yesterday, the 6th of December, Henry VI was born. He came to the throne at just under 9 months of age, but the decisions were made for him until he was around 15. He was crowned King of France, as Henry II of France, in 1431, the only King ever to reign over both countries. The reign ceased in 1453, when his uncle, Charles VII, took over the French throne.

He was considered a soft-hearted King, an opinion held by William Shakespeare. I consider him a kind figure of a man, who left behind a legacy of educational imporiums, including Eton college.

Henry's skeleton was measured in 1910 and he was found to be 5ft9.

Henry VI reigned from 1422 - 1461 and then again from 1470 - 1471, when he was murdered. He was from the House of Lancaster, and a Plantagenet.

RIP Henry VI 🕯️ XX
(6/12/1421 - 21/5/1471, aged 49.)

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 6/Dec/20
@ Christian - I think the American view is more accurate and thorough; the older one gets, the greater the scope one has of being able to look back to various ages and think how easily or otherwise we found learning at that particular stage of our lives.

When we're in our mid-teens, we have so much going on what with the development of our bodies that the stress of learning and the compulsory taking of exams is often too much for some youngsters to cope with. In our twenties, we're that much more mature and can exert ourselves infinitely better than we can as teenagers. At 16, I wasn't forceful enough to stick two fingers up at the decisions that were being made for me - by my strict mother. I went to college to read business studies, and I hated it. After just over a term, I made the decision to leave, and was surprised that my Mum respected my viewpoint. I got a job and saved up for the school fees to go back to the school where I'd been educated since I was 11, and learnt shorthand, typing - and BUSINESS STUDIES, including English for commerce, but it was presented in a far more enjoyable way, so I excelled, whereas had I stayed at that large impersonal college, I'd have messed up something frightful!

Sorry for the delay in replying, Christian. Now I have some interesting info coming up about the youngest king to ever take the English throne....

Christian 6'5 3/8" said on 8/Nov/20
@Sandy
I heard that it was 21 or something like that though, but I guess it varies on the person. It may explain why most people around that age are college students.

Chilling said on 7/Nov/20
Nik Ashton- I agree, it shouldn't, and it probably matters a lot less than it did in the Stone Age, but it does to an extent, subconsciously I'm sure. If 2 candidates matched equally on competence etc etc, height would definitely play a crucial role. However, candidates typically tend to vary on the more important stuff as well, so height probably gets relegated to the background.
Maybe we can see the importance of height in the private sector, as CEOs tend to be much above the average height, and candidates for the top job wouldn't vary on too much. Omitted variables I'm sure, but it'd be interesting to see a proper study.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 5/Nov/20
@ Christian - Yes, I get totally lost in history.

When you're tiny, it's recommended that you learn how to spell a new word every day. Not good enough! If they explained a few spelling rules to these kids, they'd learn at a far faster rate. We reach our greatest capacity for absorbing facts at around 16, but I'm not letting that put me off. You can learn all manner of things in the most enjoyable of ways - really entertaining ones. That way, you never grow bored!

Cheers Christian! 😁👍📖

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 5/Nov/20
@ J2Frenzy - I did a comment to that effect on David Warner's page on 14/10/16. Yes, it's the easiest way to lose height, I must agree on that one!

J2Frenzy said on 4/Nov/20
@Sandy Marie Antoinette shrunk a lot, she was a head shorter after she died!

Christian 6'5 3/8" said on 4/Nov/20
@Sandy
Cool, thanks for the history info! To paraphrase one of Einstein's quotes, we never stop learning until the day we die.

Nik Ashton said on 3/Nov/20
Chilling - It shouldn’t matter at all!

J2Frenzy said on 3/Nov/20
Another interesting thing is that King Henry VIII was considered a giant for his height, when he was my height and weight! TBF the average English peasant was probably about 5’4 but it’s weird to think of someone my size as giant

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 2/Nov/20
I can't believe what I've just read. I asked Google for Louis XVI's height - and I found a staggering SIX FOOT FOUR! That's all of 6" taller than Rob's 5ft10. 🤭

I'm sure I'd have had some inkling of knowledge about King Louis XVI, the last King to rule France, being so tall from my school history books if he'd been THAT huge. We learnt that Henry VIII was very tall. I've read 6ft, 6ft2 and 6ft4 for the second Tudor monarch, which was gigantic in the 16th Century. (He reigned from 1509 - 1547) 👑

Had Louis been 6ft4, surely it would be a far more famous fact than it actually is? 🤔

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 2/Nov/20
Marie Antoinette

The wife of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, was born 265 years ago today. She was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I, so she was brought up in luxurious surroundings and fed accordingly. When she married Louis, she spent her time equally between rich and poor alike.

Reputed for saying about the poor, "Let them eat cake!", this was never actually proved. Caught up in the French Revolution of 1789, both Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI were sentenced to death by guillotine in January 1793, the monarchy having already been abolished the previous year. The two were imprisoned in the August of that year. Louis endeavoured to be a good King, but could not undo the huge debts that had been accrued by previous Kings, and went bravely to his death on the 21st January, 1793, aged 38. His wife was guillotined some nine months later, on the 16th October. Her young son was forced to admit to incest with his mother around late spring/early summer '93, losing her custody of the lad. So sad.

Marie Antoinette could have been as tall as 5ft6, but opinions differ. She could have been no taller than 5ft2.5.

RIP Marie Antoinette 🕯️💐
(2/11/1755 - 16/10/1793)

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 31/Oct/20
J2Frenzy - You're too right there. They were nearly all beyond redemption - apart from a small minority, like Oskar Schindler.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 31/Oct/20
@ Christan

Re: The Background of Oscar Wilde

To say that Oscar Wilde came from a privileged background is an understatement!

He was a descendant of Dutchman, William de Wilde, who accompanied Dutch William of Orange, also known as King William the III, who co-reigned England, Scotland and Ireland because he was married to Queen Mary II, the daughter of James II, who united to form an alliance with The Netherlands. In Medieval times alliances were often made through marriage, ie Henry VIII of England married Catherine of Aragon of Spain to continue the alliance with Spain that had been sealed when his brother, the short-lived Prince Arthur, Duke of Wales and next in line to the throne after his father Henry VII, died. William de Wilde, or Colonel de Wilde as he became, ventured to Ireland in 1690 in William of Orange's Army.

Now we have that out of the way! The Wilde family stayed in Ireland, and Oscar and his elder brother, William, were born to William Wilde, who was Ireland's leading ophthalmologic surgeon, tending to the eye problems of the badly off citizens of Dublin. William Wilde Senior was knighted in 1864 for his services as the Medical Advisor and the Assistant Commissioner to the Censuses of Ireland.

Oscar went to only the best schools and colleges and his family had the money to eat well. It was after attending Oxford University that Oscar decided to move to London to pursue a career in literature.

I think his affluent background explains his height, as well - obviously - as his genetic makeup.

So there you go, Christian....! 😉👌

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 31/Oct/20
Italian explorer Christopher Columbus was born 569 years ago today. He was sponsored by the Spanish throne and set off to claim the West Indies, later crossing the Atlantic (four voyages) discovering the Americas, then called The New World, leading to their colonisation.

Columbus was considered well above the then average height of 5ft7 for that part of the World. Well, that's what I found and I thought it rather on the tall side myself for the 16th Century!

He had pale sandy-blond hair which had gone completely white by the time he was in his 30s.

Columbus had two sons, Diego and Ferdinand, and he lived to the age of 54.

Christopher Columbus 🕯️
(31/10/1451 - 20/5/1506)

J2Frenzy said on 30/Oct/20
@Sandy describing a Nazi as unbelievably evil doesn’t narrow it down much

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 29/Oct/20
@ Christian - I'll have to get back to you on that one. I'm interested it that myself.

Those days, back in the 19th Century, it seems likely that Oscar Wilde will indeed have come from a well-off family to have reached his level of education. He's noted for saying, when asked whether he had anything to declare, "Nothing but my genius!"

J2Frenzy said on 29/Oct/20
How tall was Aristotle? I always picture him being tall and thin

Christian 6'5 3/8" said on 28/Oct/20
@Sandy
6'3" was very tall for his time. I wonder if Wilde came from a wealthy family, so he had access to relatively good nutrition and healthcare.

Linke said on 28/Oct/20
This article states that Alexander the Great was about 5'0 and Porus was 7'0.
Click Here

A historical book I read in school states 5'5 for Alexander and 6'2 for Porus.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 27/Oct/20
America's 26th President, Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, was born 162 years ago today. He had six children and lived to 60. Teddy measured 178cm tall.

Theodore Roosevelt
27/10/1858 - 6/1/1919 🕯️

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Oct/20
Re: Oscar Wilde - Make that 44 years.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 16/Oct/20
Irish novelist, playwrite and poet Oscar Wilde was born 166 years ago today. He stood 191cm tall and lived just 46 years.

RIP Oscar Wilde
16/10/1856 - 30/11/1900 🕯️

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 14/Oct/20
Stuart King James II was born 387 years ago today. He was the last Catholic monarch to rule England, Scotland, as King James VII, and Ireland but lost his hold on the Scottish throne in 1688 after The Glorious Revolution. He became King in 1685.

James was married twice, fathered 19 children and stood 6ft from the ground.

King James II 🕯️
14/10/1633 - 16/9/1701 👑

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 8/Oct/20
@ Christian - I think it would make a pleasant change to give a thoroughly nice historical figure a page - far preferable to Stalin and 💲Hitler!

Christian 6'5 3/8" said on 5/Oct/20
@Sandy
Hitler is another one that's born in the 1800's that has his own page. So is Stalin and Churchill. So Ghandi's certainly not too old to warrant an individual page.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 4/Oct/20
@ Rob - Thanks very much for adding the brave and much revered Mahatma Gandhi to the Historical Heights page.

@ If Ghandi did get his own page, I'd certainly write on it. I actually checked to see if he already had a page, but I think that very few, if any, people who were born in the 19th century have pages here, and if they do, they'd be actors born at the tail end of the 1800's.

I enjoy writing on this page, which offers so much scope. It was such a good idea of Rob's. 😃👌

Christian 6'5 3/8" said on 3/Oct/20
@Sandy
Nevermind a mention, maybe an individual page is even better. He's one of the most famous figures in modern history. If Hitler (of all people) gets an individual page, then so should Ghandi.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 2/Oct/20
Indian activist Mahatma Ghandi was born on this day 151 years ago. Standing just 5ft4, this did nothing to put him off fighting for Indian independence, and this great, heroic man formed the Indian Independence movement. I also found a slightly taller height for Ghandi, which was 165cm, so this might have been his height when young.

Sadly, he was assassinated aged 78. 😢

Mahatma Gandhi
2/10/1869 - 30/1/1948

Perhaps, Rob, he deserves a mention on the Historical Page....

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 21/Sep/20
HG Wells was born 154 years ago today in Bromley, Kent. Writer of 'The War of the Worlds', 'The Time Machine', 'The Invisible Man', 'Tales of Time and Space' and many more, Wells gave sci-fi an excellent launching platform and is often dubbed The Father of Science Fiction. I've found 5ft5 and 5ft8 for him. Does anyone know for sure?

Herbert George Wells
21/9/1866 - 13/8/1946

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Aug/20
American author H P Lovecraft was born 130 years ago today. He stood 179cm tall and had so many phobias that he made a career out of writing about the weird and the horrific. 'Re-Animator' was one film based on his ideas. His career spanned some 20 years, starting in 1917 and continuing until his death from cancer of the small intestine, aged just 46. One of his phobias was old age, and one he never had to embrace.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft
(20/8/1890 - 15/3/1937) RIP 🕯️

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 19/Aug/20
⭐ In the age of George III, who came to the throne in 1760, aged 22, and reigned until 1820, the average man was just 5ft6, showing that Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1820, dying at 50) was well and truly normal-heighted for his time. William Pitt the Younger was VERY tall at 6ft. ⭐

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 18/Aug/20
There wàs a question on Jeremy Clarkson's 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' a few moments ago about the age which William Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister - the youngest PM ever. It was, of course, 24, and the contestant got it right after phoning a friend. Mr Pitt was born in Hayes, Kent, just 2/3 or so miles from where I live.

I then decided to hunt around for his height and I found that he's estimated to have been a super tall 6ft, more than likely judged from a suit he wore. He lived to just 46, more than likely killed by stress. He was in power during the reign of George III.

William Pitt the Younger
(28/5/1759 - 23/1/1806) RIP 🕯️

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 6/Aug/20
211 years ago today, poet Alfred Tennyson was born. He lived to the age of 83 and measured in at 185cm, a very tall height for a man born early in the 19th Century. Maybe having a privileged upbringing - he was a Baron - had a great deal to do with reaching such a height back in the time when a woman of 5ft2 or 3 was considered TALL!

Alfred, Lord Tennyson 🕯️
6/8/1809 - 6/10/1892

Christian 6'5 3/8 said on 26/Jul/20
@Rob
Should people like FDR and Tesla be removed from the Historical page, and be given their own individual pages? They lived until the 1940's, which isn't really old enough to be described as historical IMO.

Allie said on 23/Jul/20
Yep. Some sites like this one claim Eleanor was 5'10. If I do more searching maybe I would find a 5'9 claim, but I do think she was probably somewhere in the 5'9-10 range.
Click Here

Allie said on 23/Jul/20
Just looking at pictures (though I can't see the footwear) of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt,I wouldn't get the impression that she was actually 5'11 or 5'11.5.

I wonder if the 5'9-5'10 reported heights were when she was alive. I have a feeling the "5'11" claims only came long after the died, possibly even in recent years. Because I remembered old comments on this site (from 2006) stating Eleanor was 5'10.

I'd personally put her somewhere between 5'9-10. Michelle is probably the tallest former or current first lady so far.

JERRY JOHNSON said on 12/Jul/20
I clicked on the pic of Abraham Lincoln where it has his height as 9'6" I did a little research and he was the tallest US President at 6'4".

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 8/Jul/20
I think Washington has been described anywhere from 6ft up to 6ft5!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 28/Jun/20
Henry VIII was born 529 years ago today. Noted for his tall stature of anything from 6ft-6ft4, depending on which history books you read, he was handsome and a talented musician and sportsman in his youth. Later on, he changed the whole course of history, breaking away from the Catholic Church.

King Henry VIII
28/6/1491 - 28/1/1547

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 24/May/20
201 years ago to the day, Queen Victoria was born. I've found 150cm and 152cm for Queen Victoria, but I believe the former!

There have been all manner of speculations as to why Victoria was so short, including the fact that she had 9 children, but her first child, Victoria, was born in 1840, so she was fully grown by then. All her children reached adulthood, which was unusual in those days.

No one can say she didn't have a hearty appetite. At one time, her waist measurement reached an unhealthy 50", so her height was doubtless down to genetics. She reigned for over 63 and-a-half years and died aged 81.

Queen Victoria
24/5/1819 - 22/1/1901
RIP Victoria 🕯️ XX

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 18/May/20
Bertrand Russell was born 148 years ago today. Of English noble birth, Russell was a 20th Century Philosopher, with many, many interests. He was a political activist, a logician, mathematician, university lecturer in America, a social critic, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. He spoke out against Hitler and Stalin, and was imprisoned for his beliefs in the Second World War. There is so much to learn about him; he's really worth checking out folks!

Russell was a main influencer of the freedom of speech we enjoy today.

I found 165cm for him, but most of the websites I have visited don't mention his height. This great man lived to the age of 97.

Bertrand Russell
1872 - 1970 RIP XXX 🕯️

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 13/May/20
@ Christian - I have often wondered whether Anne Hathaway changed her name to match that of Shakespeare's wife, and kept looking into the matter on the back burner. Well, I've finally got round to checking whether it is Ms Hathaway's real name and yes, it is! In fact, she was deliberately named after Mrs Shakespeare by her parents. They must be the studious type!

Cheers Christian, and I apologize for the late reply. 😉👍 XX

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 13/May/20
🙇‍♀️ Correction Time! 🙇‍♀️

Florence Nightingale was born on the TWELFTH of May and NOT the twentieth. I do apologize.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 13/May/20
Yesterday, the 12th May, was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. Born in Florence, Italy, she was known as 'The Lady With The Lamp' because she would carry one with her while tending to her patients.

Florence was a British subject, known for nursing the soldiers of the Crimean War. (October 1853 - March 1856). She was the first woman ever to receive the Order of Merit for her revolutionary work.

I could not find her height but she was described as 'tall, very slight and willowy in build, with thick, shortish brown hair'. This wonderful, caring lady lived to the age of 90. If ever there was a life well spent, then it was hers.

Florence Nightingale
20/5/1820 - 13/8/1910 🕯️
RIP in Heaven, Florence. XXXXX

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/May/20
Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born 180 years ago today. Famous for his ballet The Nutcracker, he wrote numerous concertos, symphonies, operas and ballets. He started studying music at 5 years of age, stood SIX FOOT TWO, and died in November 1893, aged just 53.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
May 7th 1840 - Nov 6th 1893 🕯️

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 5/May/20
German political philosopher Karl Marx was born 202 years ago today. Famous for his books The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, Marx attended two German universities, those of Bonn and Berlin, and lived to the age of 64.
He stood 175cm tall.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 27/Apr/20
Ulysses S Grant, the 18th American President, was born 198 years ago today. The soldier and politician stood 173cm tall and led the Union Armies to victory in the American Civil War in the year 1865.

Ulysses, born Hiram Ulysses Grant, died of cancer of the esophagus at the age of 63.

Ulysses S Grant 🇺🇸
27/4/1822 - 23/7/1885
RIP Ulysses XX 🕯️

Christian 6'5 3/8" said on 25/Apr/20
@Sandy
I thought for a second that you were talking about Anne Hathaway the actress, lol. Then I realize that Shakespeare's wife was also named that.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 3/Apr/20
Yesterday, 215 years ago, Danish author Hans Christian Andersen was born. Famous for his amazing fairytales, Andersen stood all of 185cm, so he really was a Great Dane! He lived to 70.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 31/Mar/20
German composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born 335 years ago today. He measured all of 180cm, rather tall for a man who lived in the 18th century. His elder brother, also a Johann (Johann Christoph) was an organ player and musician too.

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685 - 1750 🕯️

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 29/Mar/20
Washington’s been described 6ft up to 6ft5!


But again, a real 6ft in the 1700’s was probably the equivalent of what 6ft2-3 is now!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 29/Mar/20
On this day 230 years ago the tenth president of America, John Tyler, was born. He was frail in appearance but still managed to live for 71 productive years. John was 183cm tall.

John Tyler 29/3/1790 - 18/1/1862

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Mar/20
Today, 209 years ago, Napoleon's son popped into the World. Also called Napoleon, he lived to only 21, dying of tuberculosis.

Napoleon II, or Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, was nearly 6ft tall at 17.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 15/Mar/20
I've found one of the most interesting historical Birthdays - that of Saint Nicholas - complete with the man's height!

It really is a Brahma; the Saint was born SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY! For someone who was born in the third century AD and went on to live to 73, dying on the 6th December, 343, attaining a height of 168cm was hardly a piffling one all those centuries ago!

Most famous for being the Patron Saint of children, Saint Nicholas was also the Patron Saint of students, seamen, breweries, pawn shop owners and of thieves who were genuinely repentant of their sins. Cheers! 🍻😉👍

Saint Nicholas 15.3.270 - 6.12.343 🕯️

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 3/Mar/20
I found A G Bell was approximately 172cm in height.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 3/Mar/20
173 years ago today, Alexander Graham Bell was born, the man responsible for the invention of the telephone. He died in 1922, aged 75.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 28/Feb/20
Julius Caesar.

Tomorrow is Leap Day, in other words, it's the one occasion in every four years that adds an extra day to February.

This was decided by Julius Caesar, 46 years BC, to prevent the seasons from gradually - VERY gradually! - merging into, for example, Summer being the cold season for those of us who are used to it being hot, and vice versa. How forward thinking was that? 🤔😲

Caesar himself was a tall 5ft8.5, at a time when skeletal remains show that the average man ranged from 5ft - 5ft5. The people from those days ate a wheat-based diet, and the lack of protein directly impaired their growth, much as it would do nowadays.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 22/Feb/20
Bang on 6ft American President George Washington was born 288 years ago today. He lived to 67.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 12/Feb/20
Abraham Lincoln, 193cm, was born on this day 211 years ago. He was assassinated on the 15th April, 1865, after just over 4 years in office, aged 56.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 11/Feb/20
173 years ago today, Thomas Edison popped into the world. He invented the light bulb and plenty more besides! Thomas stood 178cm tall. There was a darn good pop group called Edison Lighthouse in the late 60s/70s, of course named after Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison 1847-1931.💡🕯️

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/Feb/20
208 ago to this day, much-loved English author Charles Dickens was born. I've found his height was 5ft8, so quite tall for his day!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 5/Feb/20
Robert (Bobbie) Peel 1788-1850.

The founder of the Metropolitan Police and the Conservative Party was born 232 years ago today. I can't find his height but I can tell you that it was his idea to accept men of a minimum height of 5ft7. Years later, this went up (according to my Mum, who said that when she first arrived in this country in 1948, policemen were 'as tall as houses!') 👮🏘️👮‍♀️

However, my first memory was reading that it was 5ft8 for men and 5ft4 for women. This will have been in the 70s, when I started reading newspapers.

Now, of course, there are no height restrictions.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 28/Jan/20
Today, 563 years ago, Henry VII was born, or Henry Tudor. He was the first monarch of the Tudor Dynasty, coming to the throne in 1485 after his triumph at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and ending the Wars of the Roses. He reigned until his death in 1509 and was succeeded by his younger son, Henry, who became Henry VIII.

As regards his height, I've read repeatedly that he was tall and slender, also that he was 'above average'. He had a muscular build.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 27/Jan/20
On this day, 264 years ago, the 5ft4 Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born. He lived to just 35, dying at the tail end of 1791. Sadly, Mozart was buried in a pauper's grave.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 25/Jan/20
I'd like to add that Mr Robert Burns was just 37 when he passed on. He fathered 10 children, and was himself the eldest of 7. He lived from 1759 to 1796.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 25/Jan/20
Scottish poet Robert Burns was born 261 years ago today. According to Google, he stood 178cm tall, not a bad height for somebody born in the 18th Century!

🕯️🎁🎂😁👍

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 21/Jan/20
Grigori Rasputin, 1869-1916, was born on this day 151 years ago. He was an amazing 193cm, or 6ft4, which was very tall for the 19th century.

Could he please have a mention on the Historical Heights Page please Rob?

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 19/Jan/20
Edgar Allan Poe, who is widely known as a 5 foot 8 young man, was born 211 years ago today. He lived to just 40 years of age, dying on the 7th of October, 1849. His death was surrounded by mystery. His life lives on in his brilliant literary work.

RIP E A Poe 🕯️📚

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 6/Jan/20
The ill-fated, saintly Joan of Arc was born 608 years ago today, living to just 19. She was five foot two inches tall.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 8/Dec/19
Further to my comment from 28th June this year, I've just found evidence from a site that Henry VIII was 6ft2. Perhaps he should be added, Rob? He certainly caused enough historical upheaval to warrant a mention!
👑
😤🎊🐎

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 8/Dec/19
Mary Queen of Scots popped into the world 477 years ago today!

I've heard that she was 6ft but I've also found evidence that she was 180cm, but either way, she was very tall, ESPECIALLY for her time!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 29/Nov/19
I've found that CS Lewis was 5ft10.75 and weighed in at 180 pounds.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 29/Nov/19
Today is the Birthday of two of the finest authors history has to offer. Louisa May Alcott was born 187 years ago and, famous for her book 'Little Women', she was dubbed 'the children's friend'.

121 years ago CS Lewis popped into the world, and, of course, he wrote 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Nov/19
Senator Robert F Kennedy was born 94 years ago today. He was 42 when he was sadly assassinated in 1968. I still remember the Summer's day, 6th June 1968.

His height was 175cm. Perhaps, Rob, he deserves a place on the Historical Heights Page...

Bobby 5ft 10in (178cm) said on 15/Nov/19
Rob, that letter by Washington to his tailor was actually in 1768.

Click Here

I think you should correct the information above.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 12/Oct/19
Edward VI, the only legitimate son of King Henry VIII, was born 482 years ago today. He came to the throne at just 9 years of age, and having been exposed to TB and the measles, he still managed to learn Latin, Greek and French. Because of his young years, Edward had two advisors during his reign.

One of the ongoing characteristics of measles was a suppressed immune system. Edward became ill with a cold in the Winter of 1553 and died shortly after, having come to the throne in 1547, upon the death of his Father. With his weakened health, it is unlikely that he grew very tall like Dad, who was at least 6ft. I have seen paintings of Edward and he still looked very boyish at 15. His Dad was nearly 18 when he became King.

King Henry VIII loved the Mother of Edward, Jane Seymour, more than any of his wives and chose to be buried with her in St George's Chapel, Windsor. She died a few days after Edward was born.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 29/Sep/19
I've concluded that Thomas Crapper's name was bordering on being a coincidence. I've found out, roughly anyway, what the word 'crap' used to mean before Thomas came along with his ballcock. 🏀🐓🚽

When man was dependant on farming for his own food long before you simply took a trip to the supermarket or ordered online, there was a term for the rejected wheat, ie. the chaff, and it would be called the crap. The term 'crap' was also applied to things like weeds or anything that wasn't entirely necessary or useful. Isn't that just so appropriate, because we don't tend to meet people on a day-to-day basis who fret at the thought of getting rid of their body's undesirable wastage, although the odd 'waste not want not' eccentric might decide to use it for fuel or fertilizer. (My friend's Dad bought pig's muck for his roses and my mate would put off going home for as long as possible at certain times of the year; the poor bloke could never sleep with the window open in baking hot weather!)

😷💩🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹😷🖕

You could say that the meaning hasn't really changed that much at all!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 29/Sep/19
Horatio Nelson was born 261 years ago today.

Huh! As I write this, Chris Tarrant has just come out with a question about Nelson on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' How ironic is that?

Nelson lived from 1758 until 1805.

He didn't lose his arm in battle, but by being hit in the arm by a cannonball as he stepped ashore in Tenerife from his ship. It is reputed that just half an hour after the amputation, he returned to his duties. His eye was lost early on in his Army career. So those playground rhymes were a load of rubbish!

The 5ft4 Admiral died when he was shot in the head, aged 47, in 1805.

Could he be added to the Historical Heights Page please, Rob?

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 28/Sep/19
⭐ A Bit of Historical Fun! ⭐

Mr Thomas Crapper was born 183 years years ago today. He was actually responsible for the invention of the ballcock and not the flushing toilet, as is so often believed.

In actual fact, the word 'crap', now used to refer to waste matter because of Thomas's invention, was formerly a word of Middle English origin, and meant something completely different. I'll try to find out, but if my efforts are as fruitless as they were trying to track down Thomas's height, I wouldn't hold out much hope....

📘📙📓📲❓🚽💩

Thomas Crapper died at 73.
(1836-1910)

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/Sep/19
Elizabeth I was born 486 years ago today. She would make a great addition to this page Rob! (1533-1603)

She's estimated to have been around 5ft5. She came to the throne in 1558, when she was 25, the same age as Elizabeth II.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 5/Sep/19
Louis XIV of France was born 381 years ago today. He measured in at 165cm and lived to 76, dying 4 days short of his 77th Birthday.

Perhaps he deserves a mention on this page, Rob....❓

He philandering resulted in 16 children. He died of gangrene.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 21/Aug/19
Peganini, famous Italian violinist, (1782-1840) was 165cm tall.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 19/Aug/19
Ironically, his son Charles II was 185cm tall!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 19/Aug/19
I just asked Google how tall Charles I was. He was 163cm tall - before he was decapitated. 😥

I've seen films about the guy and I always feel sorry for him.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 13/Jul/19
Sir Francis Drake, the 'little captain general', was born 479 years ago today. He was 5ft5. Please, Rob, could you add him to the Historical Heights Page? Thank you! 😁🤞

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 28/Jun/19
Henry VIII was born 528 years ago today! 🎂🎈 His height was anything from 6ft to 6ft4.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 24/May/19
👑 Queen Victoria was born 200 years today!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 16/May/19
How about adding a really tall King, as in Henry VIII? I've read he's 6ft and 6ft4, so when Google just gave me 6ft2, it occurred to me that it could be that 'she' decided upon the mean. It's not a bad idea. Do you think that this infamous philanderer of a King should have a mention on the Historical Heights Page, Rob? He reigned from 1509-1547. Thanks!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 8/May/19
Last night I read that Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to be exact) was just 5ft2! This morning I asked Google and she replied 163cm. What a conundrum! 🎼🎶

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/May/19
Russian composer Tchaikovsky, famous for such masterpieces as 'Swan Lake', was born 179 years ago today, the 7th May. He lived for 53 and-a-half years almost to the day. I looked for his height and according to one person, he was 188cm, but that's hardly a reliance source. However, he was definitely TALL.

🎼🎵🎹🎹🎹

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 23/Apr/19
Today would have been William Shakespeare's birthday. I just asked Google about his height and my reply? "William Shakespeare was most likely between five and six feet tall!"

How amazing is that? Does Google want a new employee? 😛

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Apr/19
Wow! Thanks enormously Rob! 👏😉

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 19/Apr/19
Hi Rob! Could you consider a page for William the Conqueror, who was 178cm tall - pretty impressive for someone born in 1028! He did, after all, change the course of history.

One of his hobbies, apart from fighting, was eating, so that could explain why he grew so tall for his time. It is reputed that his stomach exploded at his funeral, causing great need for the ceremony to be a very hurried affair! 😷

Thanks Rob! 😁👍

SnerhagAip777 said on 7/Mar/19
Rob, any idea about Peter the Great? The 6'8 claim i read on the internet about him seems exaggerated.

Sandy Cowell said on 14/Feb/19
Hi Rob!

Could you please consider a page for Dr Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784, the original lexographer who wrote the Dictionary? He was very tall for his time at 5ft11 and well-built.

Thank you!

Nik said on 26/Jul/18
@ Sandy Cowell - Thanks for that! I agree, William Shakespeare is one of the most famous historical people and it would be fantastic if Rob could give him an accurate listing! He has done so much to inspire and educate people with his marvellous use of the English Language, he has also done so much to develop our language, like you said!

Nik said on 26/Jul/18
@ Sandy Cowell - Thanks for that! I agree, William Shakespeare is one of the most famous historical people and it would be fantastic if Rob could give him an accurate listing! He has done so much to inspire and educate people with his marvellous use of the English Language, he had also done so much to develop our language, like you said!

Sandy Cowell said on 25/Jul/18
@ Nik - I think William Shakespeare would make a great addition. The Elizabethan playwriter had such an influence on today's language and although other famous authors have introduced words, like Lewis Carroll for instance, there is no one as prolific a contributor as Shakespeare, even if we did curse his plays as kids!

@ Ian C. - That is very interesting, your mentioning the mighty Goliath as being the only person in the Bible whose height is actually recorded! (6ft9)

Nik said on 22/Jul/18
@ Sandy Cowell @ Slim

William Shakespeare is a great idea, I would be interested to know how tall he was!

Sandy Cowell said on 23/Apr/18
@ Bobby - How very interesting! Thanks! 👍😊

Bobby said on 11/Jan/18
@SportsHeight, Achilleus and Hektor are described as being tall, average height for a Greek back then was 5'6, so I'm guessing that Achilleus and Hector were much closer to 6ft, if not, 6ft themselves. So I'm guessing a figure between 5'10-6ft seems right. Helen was probably average height for a woman in Ancient Greece, which was 5'2.

Bobby said on 11/Jan/18
@Sandy Cowell, actually, Napoleon was 5'4 based on French units, in modern day international units, he'd be 5'7, or technically, shy of 5'7. Even the Roman units were different from today, 5'7 in Roman units is 6ft in modern day units.

Bobby said on 11/Jan/18
Rob should add Blackbeard, I've read some sources on the internet alleging that he was 6'5, I think even the History of the Pyrates says that Edward Thatch was a towering man at 6'5, standing a foot above his contemporaries.

PS: He is nevertheless regarded as a tall man by history sources, anywhere from 6ft to 6'6. He's worth a mention on here, he's infamous as a pirate.

Ian C. said on 15/Dec/17
The Bible reports the height of only one man: Goliath. Six foot nine, apparently, although it's hard to see why this would have given him an advantage in a sword fight with a shorter athletic champion. It did him no good at all against a flung stone.

marina said on 14/Dec/17
Hi Rob, what height do you think poet Charles Baudelaire looks ? There is a pic of him here Click Here It is said in books he is "average height" in the 1850's in France...

Sandy Cowell said on 19/Nov/17
@ Bobby - Hi! Until I started visiting this website, I had only ever heard about Napolean being really small; not 5ft2 or 3, but 5ft!
I think Rob's estimate of 5ft4 is infinitely more likely any day than 5ft7, don't you agree?
It's ridiculous that he was even deemed to be small, when he was clearly an average-heighted man for his day and age.

Cheers!

Sandy Cowell said on 19/Nov/17
@ Slim - Will Shakespeare is a great idea!

@ Edward IV - He would also make a brill addition! He was a very interesting Plantagenate King!

How about them, Rob, please, please, pretty please!

Slim said on 27/Sep/17
Can we please have William Shakespeare?

MIncer said on 20/Sep/17
Edward IV was apparently 6'4.5 and the tallest British Monarch?

grizz said on 30/Jul/17
How tall was Wyatt Earp?
I was watching Sunset movie starring Bruce Willis and James Garner (as Wyatt Earp). Wyatt Earp played a film consultant in LA.
I thought that was pure comedy and fictional, but he actually was an unpaid movie consultant in later life! What a time to be alive, shake hands with some of the manliest American that ever lived (Teddy Roosevelt, Wyatt Earp)

Bobby said on 23/Jun/17
How tall was Napolean Bonaparte though? Some sources say he was 5'4, others that he was 5'7. Or about average height for a French man at that time.

Sandy Cowell said on 30/May/17
🌟 @ Rob! 🌟

Now THAT'S what I call an answer! Bravo! Brilliance itself! 💐👏

Sandy Cowell said on 29/May/17
@ Rob - 👍
I was mighty surprised that she was THAT tall!

Sandy Cowell said on 26/May/17
@ Rob - Could you consider adding Mary Queen of Scotts to your Historical Heights page?
She was, I have heard, SIX FOOT TALL, and for someone from the 16th century, that was mighty tall - let alone for a woman!

World Citizen said on 24/May/17
I was really surprised at Nikola Tesla's height. I thought he was way shorter than listed.

Orlando said on 25/Apr/17
You have removed the pages for Walt Whitman, Henry Miller and Salvador Dali. Sad.

Orlando said on 18/Apr/17
Mata Hari was quite a tall lady: 1.75 m (5ft 9in): Click Here

Sandy Cowell said on 23/Mar/17
Re: Edgar Allan Poe - 5ft8 in the 1800's was quite a sizeable height! I watched a drama yesterday (Inspector Morse actually), and the heights of Jack the Ripper's victims were mentioned and the facts were related not unlike this: "4ft9, 4ft11, the women were all that sort of height except for one, with a nickname implying she was tall! She was 5ft3". The nickname might have been 'Long Liz' followed by "because she was so tall!"
So that means Edgar Allan Poe was 9 - 11inches taller than the average woman, if that story's to be believed! I'd say it makes a good deal of sense! So in one and a half centuries, a woman's average height has soared by 6 inches easily! Therefore, so will a man's! My powers of deduction are quite forbidding sometimes, if I do say so myself!

Sandy Cowell said on 22/Mar/17
So Louis XVI was described as 'five foot ten inches in height, heavily built but not yet too fat'!
That sounds very much as though there's a certain inevitability that he would get fat! French kings called Louis, I ask you, and there were enough of them, all waiting to reach a certain stonage! I thought they were meant to rule the country! 👑
😝

grizz said on 28/Dec/16
@Rob,any idea on height&weight of Teddy Roosevelt?
I see 5'9 and 5'10 on the Internet, but weight surprised me the most - one source mentioned 220 while another claimed 235 lbs! I'm surprised because he looked relatively athletic in photos, not to mention his crazy fitness regimen throughout his life.

Arch Stanton said on 16/Dec/16
Rob how tall do you reckon Lyndon B Johnson was really? Not sure 6'4 barefoot, 6'3.5 might be possible?

josh jeffords said on 9/Oct/16
Cool page how do you have Tesla and not Edison?
Never knew Lincoln was so tall or skinny, he is often portrayed by people 5 10 or under.
I heard about twain and poe but Beethoven is surprising too.

so said on 3/Oct/16
How come when I google Leonardo Da vinci height, there are sites saying he was 6'4.... Where an earth did they get that idea?

LoganNoll1996 said on 17/Sep/16
We need a height page for famous composers. Very curious to how tall John Williams(current and peak height), Hans Zimmer, Wolfgang Mozart, Max Steiner, and Jerry Goldsmith were/are.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 14/Aug/16
I've read as high as 6ft3 for George Washington

Tunman said on 24/Jul/16
What about Malcolm X?possibly a fraction taller than 6'2.5 Ali maybe 6'3

Pucko said on 4/Jul/16
I think Abe deserves his own page :) he looks around 6'3.5 in the few full body photos out there of him. So if it's documented that he got measured at 6'3.75, and Lincoln himself claimed 6'4 at times, then it should be safe to put him at 6'3.75

Please make this happen Rob, i think it could get alot of searches, especially now

Orlando said on 5/Jun/16
Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen (1878-1967), British soldier, intelligence officer and ornithologist, was 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), according to biography "The Meinertzhagen Mystery" by Brian Garfield.

SHORTY said on 18/May/16
Interesting that you have Lincoln at 6'3.75" Rob. I read a book where someone asked him his height and he replied that he was " six feet four inches after getting out the kinks". However, the book went on to explain that an artist named Frank Carpenter actually measured him at "six foot three and three fourths".

TJE said on 25/Mar/16
I'm not so sure about Da Vinci at just 5'9. When you say skeleton, I think of just the bones; he'd be taller than 5'8 at his death. He was also described as tall, handsome, and extremely athletic. I'm thinking 5'10 peak and 5'9 at age 67.

TJE said on 24/Mar/16
I'm surprised Charles I was only 5'4 considering Mary Queen of Scots was 5'11 and Henry Stuart was described as over six feet tall. I'm guessing Anne of Denmark was quite short then.


Also, Rob, could you add Louis XVI to the top? He's been described as both 5'10 and over 6'1. He was described by Nesta Webster as:

"Five foot ten inches in height, heavily built but not yet too fat, with well-shaped legs, a pleasant ruddy countenance and pale blue eyes..."

I have yet to find anything confirming over six foot but IMO 5'10 is liklier. I've also heard anywhere from 5'2 to 5'9 for Marie Antoinette.

Orlando said on 12/Mar/16
At 54:26 of this video Click Here see J. Edgar Hoover standing next to 5' 8" president Harry S. Truman. About the same height as Truman if not shorter. This Hoover guy seemed to be a big fan of built-in shoes. No way he ever was the 5ft 10in he claimed in his FBI personal record. See him next to the Kennedy bros (Jack at 5'11" and Bobby at 5'9"): Click Here

Orlando said on 12/Mar/16
According to his Army physical record of May 1917 (aged 33) Harry Truman was 5ft 8in tall (Source: "Truman", by David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1992, page 102): Click Here

Laura said on 14/Nov/15
Edgar's sister is 1.5 years shorter than him.

Laura said on 14/Nov/15
I'll believe 5'1.5" because my best cousin & I are Eskimo/Asian pride!

Laura said on 14/Nov/15
What was Rosalie's height? She turned 33 after The Tell-Tale Heart!

SportsHeight said on 7/Oct/15
Rob, any info on Miyamoto Musashi, the most famous samurai in history?

Judd ISR said on 30/Sep/15
Rob do you believe to the theory of the ancient Giants?

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 1/Sep/15
Washington has been described from 6ft to 6ft3

TJE said on 20/Aug/15
Rob, when nobles was referred to as tall, how tall would they have been? 5'9-5'10?

Key said on 31/Jul/15
Mark Twain is right. I'm 5'8.5 and with boots it brings me up to 5'10"

SportsHeight said on 30/Jul/15
Rob, any guesses for Homer's Trojan War figures? Hector, Paris, Achilles, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Helen??? Would love to hear your thoughts/perceptions on all.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 18/Jun/15
Washington was about 6ft2

OneNamePlease said on 25/May/15
How tall is William Wallace?

The Exorcist said on 21/May/15
I remember my history teacher telling us William Wallace was 6'8". LOL!

Very doubtful, especially back in those days.

SHORTY said on 20/May/15
Rob, if you could meet any historical figure to determine their true height who would it be. I would say Napoleon Bonaparte as his height was a subject of debate due to inaccurate french measurements.

SHORTY said on 20/May/15
Rob, if you could meet any historical figure to determine their true height who would it be. I would say Napoleon Bonaparte as his height was a subject of debate due to inaccurate french measurements.

Rey said on 25/Apr/15
You would be shorter in death and with skeletal remains. The loss of skin and tissue, not mention the loss of hydration. The body would actually shrink from the lack of these elements.

REX said on 12/Apr/15
How tall is Osama Bin Laden ?

Fog181 said on 8/Apr/15
Perhaps you could add King Edward 1? Died in his late 60s and his skeleton was still measured at 6'2 so could have been taller at peak - maybe 6'3ish

Panda said on 22/Feb/15
Hey Rob according to this link:
Click Here
It states that George Washington's frozen corpse was measured at 6'3.5" (192 cm.). How much extra height would a frozen corpse with pressure relieved off it (due to lying down and being lifeless so gravity and muscle tension don't lower the height) gain? How tall do you think this would have made Washington when alive? I think this would have made Washington 6'1.5", not a legit 6'2".

grizz said on 15/Feb/15
Rob, any idea how tall was John D.Rockefeller, the richest man in the history of the world?

Tunman said on 13/Feb/15
@TJE
yeah,height in Europe dropped due to wars,diseases,famine...
Now with 70 years of peace it moved from 5'7-8 in the 40's to 5'9-10 today.
Wars should be avoided....for the sake of height,lol.

just because said on 5/Feb/15
What about maximus thrax roman emperor rumoured to have suffered from acromegaly rumoured to have been anywhere between 6 foot 8 and a mind boggling 8 feet 6.

Or old braveheart william wallace at 6 foot 7.

TJE said on 26/Jan/15
I would've thought that Old Georgie would be 6'0.5-6'1, but now that I see the paintings of him, he can appear 6'0, sometimes he even can look closer to 5'11 in some.

Anyway, I heard that the average height during the 11th century was actually 5'8, well, in Europe at least. It progressively dropped to 5'5 in the 17th and 18th centuries. Just wanted to bring that up.

Jon said on 21/Jan/15
I've read that Washington was wrong about his height, and that he was actually 6'3. He often complained that his pants were too short, and other founding fathers commented that he was always the tallest man in the room. Could he have been wrong about his height Rob?

Judd said on 11/Jan/15
[Editor Rob: he was billed as 6ft 3, he could have lost height of course.]

during JFK's presidence, Johnson was was in his 50's (he was born in 1908).
Actually rob, from those and others pictures if JFK was 5'11.75"-6'0", then Johnson doesn't seem more than 1" solid, so in the 6'1" range...
it's hard to belive for me that a person has lost 2" at 55-60 years old...

i think 6'3" perhaps was a shoes measurement, but barefeet i really doubt he has ever been taller than 6'2"...

Judd said on 10/Jan/15
[Editor Rob: I read 5ft 9 and 10 descriptions of her aswell.]

really? i believed she was a bit taller, not for sure 5'11.5" but in the 5'10-11" range...

what do you think about Lyndon B. Johnson's height? He could be 6'1-1.5" next to John F. Kennedy?

Click Here
Click Here

Judd said on 8/Jan/15
i haven't yet watched this page. it's recent...Washington at 6'0" it's a surprise...i always believed he was 6'3-4"...

rob what's your estimate for Eleanor Roosevelt? perhaps 5'11"?

the shredder said on 1/Jan/15
Rob , how tall was King Tut ? I read 5 ft 5 .

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 31/Dec/14
George Washington was described as being 6ft3

Arch Stanton said on 30/Dec/14
Rob there's a typo on Described for Twain.

Celebheights 188 CM said on 28/Dec/14
Abraham Lincoln-6'3.5"
Franklin Roosevelt-6'1.5"
George Washington-6'1.25"
Mark Twain-5'8.5"
Edgar Allan Poe-5'8"

Bishop said on 23/Dec/14
I'm still finding 6' hard to believe for Washington, since many sources claim 6'2". But if he claims it, then I won't argue against it. I'm still not sure on Tesla's height, though.

MD said on 23/Dec/14
Panda, I've always seen the same thing. Washington is almost always described in biographies as having been 6'2".

Bishop said on 22/Dec/14
Edgar Allan Poe - Military records from West Point give his height as 5'8". He also claimed 5'8" in a letter to Joseph M. Field. A biographical article in 1843 on him from the Philadelphia Saturday Museum stated that he was "about five feet, eight inches in height". Another letter from W. G. Simmons claims that he was 5'8" as well.

Mark Twain - This letter claims 5'8.5" (It's in German): Click Here

Sam said on 22/Dec/14
Yeah, hard for me to believe George Washington was only six feet, I've heard a lot of 6'2" and that he was always the tallest in the room. Any quotes for Thomas Jefferson? At the National Constitution Center here in Philadelphia, tour guides tell you that Washington was 6'3" but they have copper (I believe) life-sized replicas of the signers of the constitution and Washington's looks 6'2" range.

Panda said on 20/Dec/14
George Washington was 6'0"? Strange, he's always listed as 6'2" everywhere. Huh maybe his height tends to be exaggerated like Steve Jobs' (listed as 6'2" but really 6'0"/6'0.5"). Either that or measurements were a bit different in the 1700s. 6'2" seems believable for Washington though.

177cmGuy said on 19/Dec/14
Both Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B Johnson are tied as the tallest U.S presidents both at 6'4.The shortest was James Madison at 5'4. The top 3 presidents of all time from polls were Lincoln, rosevalt and washington who were 6 foot or above. Looks like there is a significant correlation with height and sucessfull presedential candidates but height is only a single factor.

new guy said on 6/Oct/14
Rob you should make a page where people can talk about their growth charts in their teen years

Bishop said on 6/Aug/14
William Wallace? His sword was measured at 5'6". He had to be AT LEAST 6'6" to wield this.

Arch Stanton said on 20/Jul/14
Click Here

Says there the average height for Romans was 5 ft 3, and I think they were typically bigger than Israelites. That 5 ft 10 gladiator I suppose would have been comparable to a 6 ft 4 or 5 guy today.

Arch Stanton said on 16/Jul/14
Rob is Jesus worth adding? :-) Seriously though, how tall would a guy like Jesus or his disciples or a typical middle eastern guy have been in the early AD? Depictions of Jesus typically give off a Russell Brand sort of tall frame. I know some Roman skeletons have been unearthed and are typically 5'5" or 5'6" I think. I just get the idea that Jesus would have been way above average. You'd think the good Lord would have made Jesus 10 ft 7 purely to show off and edge out Goliath and say "there you go, God made me taller than you! :-)

Arch Stanton said on 8/Jun/14
@Bishop

Bin Laden's body was measured by the FBI before they got rid of him (well as they reported anyway) and they said they had a guy on the team who was the tallest and of a measured 6'4" range and had him lie down next to him and they said they were about the same height. They did once estimate him at 6'6 I think, which isn't that surprising if you consider his skinny build and quite intimidating demeanour. Probably towered a lot of Asians although I do know that northern Pakistan and Afghanistan has a lot of Pashtuns and others where over 6ft is more common than the south.

MrTBlack said on 7/Jun/14
I did not notice Washington stating his height as 6'0". If that's true then the absolute most he was was 6'0.5".

Bishop said on 6/Jun/14
@Rob, Benjamin Franklin (Who was around 5'9" - 5'10") said this of Washington: "We always choose him to lead us because he was always the tallest man in the room." His height is getting pretty confusing now.

As for Tesla, he looked tall in pics but 6'6" would make him look pretty huge for his time and he didn't look that huge in pictures.

Bishop said on 5/Jun/14
Nikola Tesla - This sight claims Tesla was 6'6" Click Here but other sources claim 6'2". He didn't really look 6'6" in pictures with other people.
Queen Victoria - 5'
Napolean Bonaparte - 5'6" or 5'7". Was measured after his death at 5'2" but this was in French units.
Osama Bin Laden - FBI describes Osama as 6'4" to 6'6" and 160 Ib. He looked pretty tall in photos so this could be believable.
King Carl XVI Gustaf - 5'10.5"
Fidel Castro - Described as 6'1" to 6'3"
Pablo Picasso - 5'4"
Lyndon B. Johnson - 6'3.5" very close to Lincoln.
Eleanor Roosevelt - Tallest U.S. First Lady standing at 5'11.5". Michelle is at a close second.
Isaac Newton - 5'6"

Rob, are you sure about George being 6' in height? Because he always complained that his clothes were too small and constantly complained that the leggings were too short so it may have indicated that he was taller than 6'. And after his death, he was measured 6'3.5" in his stockings......

MrTBlack said on 31/May/14
FDR was 6'1" solid. George Washington was also 6'2" btw.

mike said on 28/May/14
Rob, why not add a page for Abraham Lincoln?

Arch Stanton said on 26/May/14
Hehe! Nice one! Now the tallest page on celeb heights!

Arch Stanton said on 26/May/14
Can you link this page at the bottom of your side bar underneath fan photos? It might get more interest that way!

Arch Stanton said on 25/May/14
Rob can you change Historical Height's height to 9 ft 6 as a p**s take on Goliath who was supposedly that height? LOL.

Arch Stanton said on 25/May/14
Yeah that's a good idea with quotes if possible.

Arch Stanton said on 25/May/14
Two more:

Gandhi -5 ft 3 Click Here He was a little fella as can be seen in photos, probably about right actually.
Martin Luther King -5'6.5 Most sources say this. LA Times says 5'7", probably accurate.

Arch Stanton said on 25/May/14
Can you create a list above sort of like in the Neighbours and Eastenders pages? As I say over time they can always be tweaked if any of us find evidence to indicate heights are too high or two low.

Arch Stanton said on 25/May/14
Awesome. Thanks Rob. This could be fun! And it would save having lots of pages for people who really won't get much traffic on their own accord but might generate more discussion here. What we could do is document heights by section, like Kings/royalty, World leaders and politicians, and then others etc although obviously some would be too wild guesses and too silly to add like 10 ft 6 for Goliath!

Here's some inaugural suggestions:

Kings/Royals
Richard III, King of England (1452-1485) -Click Here -a confirmed 5'7.75 (172cm)
Henry VIII, King of England (1491-1547), He once had an armoured suit which would fit a 6'4" guy, historians guess anything from 6'1-6'4" but I think 6'2" seems to be the most common one and around that is quite likely. He was a big fella as can be seen by the paintings of him.
Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia (1672-1725) -Click Here most sources claim 6 ft 7 or 6 ft 8. I think he had acromegaly and most pictures of him show a Peter Crouch like frame, might be legit.

World leaders:
Click Here states

Winston Churchill -5 ft 6
Muammar Gadafi -6 ft (how did he fare next to Blair?- seems exaggerated)
Charles de Gaulle -6 ft 5?? Really? Would need checking..
Abraham Lincoln -6 ft 4
*Vladimir Lenin -5 ft 5
Benito Mussolini -5'6.5"
Richard Nixon -5'11.5
Joseph Stalin -5 ft 5 (I've also read 5 ft 3 or 4 for him but we know Russian leaders tend to be downgraded!)
*Maggie Thatcher 5 ft 5
George Washington -6'1.5
*Boris Yeltsin (6'1.5)

A few others in that article worth mentioning although how reliable they are is questionable as it has Medvedev at 5'4". Still, I think they're worth adding and over time people can provide comparisons if possible and they can always be tweaked if evidence points against the standard listings.

Writers
Roald Dahl - 6 ft 6, really looked it in photographs, Sophie inherited his genes. Click Here