How tall was Robert Wadlow - Page 4

Daycringeothon said on 9/Nov/19
Interestingly fellow Ukrainian tall man Igor Vovkovinsky (Tallest American citizen 7’8.33”) met Stadnyk while he was still alive. He even thought he was huge. Implying he was heavier and possibly several inches taller than himself. Stadnyk’s hands for instance were huge. There’s no official measurements taken but 7’8”-7’10” is not entirely unlikely. Don’t know if he really had any curvature reducing his peak size. Yes some photos he looks 8 foot ish but his mother was quite small 5’2” or so. I think 7’7” seems a bit low for Stadyks ‘s Peak height. He looked anywhere from 7’7+ to max 7 10 range. Not over 8 foot but still very impressive in size.

Tunman said on 8/Nov/19
Rob,any idea about Leonid Stadnyk?He was said to have measured 257cm but apparently he refused to undergo a measurement.Ukrainian Book of records mentioned he was only 244cm.So any reliable figures?

Tall In The Saddle said on 31/Oct/19
@175cm - Agreed. Why guess Wadlow to be taller than his medically verified 272 cm? So close to 9 feet IF there was any way they could fudge or get Wadlow over the line I think they would have - as it is, I think it screams the legitimacy of the medically verified measurement. I also agree that fresh out of bed would likely see Robert 9 feet let alone allowing for some more height in view of obvious curvature - which as per medical report was not factored. Wadlow's authenticated height really is as good as it gets.

175.0 cm said on 17/Oct/19
I don't know how people could guess him to be a different height than 272.0 cm, this is the most reliable measurement we have of his height. That said, however, we don't know what time of day he was measured and he could very well have hit the 9 foot mark out of bed, he probably also had some spinal curvature just due to his immense size. It's as if his height is what killed him, he is said to have still been growing at the time of his death and sadly he only stood at this listed height for 2-3 weeks before he passed away.

Assass1nK1dd said on 11/Oct/19
I'm going to go with the documentry in 1975 which said he was 8'11.9" so I PLAN to level it out

Tall In The Saddle said on 7/Aug/19
Funny, I was thinking the other day how Wadlow would compare to a grizzly or even a polar bear.

The question is.....was Bart the Bear's measurement irrefutably reliable as Robert's? LOL. Point being statistics in the animal kingdom can sometimes be just as prone to exaggeration as the human world - of course that again comes back to human exaggeration. I've seen Bart, could've been that tall...looked tall even for his bulky size.

We often read "can grow up to...." re animals but the thing is they often quote the biggest and/or longest ever recorded details which are an absolute one off and possibly embellished anyway. If we were to say conversely humans can grow up to 8'11" it clearly wouldn't be telling the whole story.....such as that height being about 3 feet (50%) greater than the average, about 8" taller than the next tallest reliably measured human and the growth being under abnormal circumstances.

Great whites were often reported as growing up to 20-21 feet...as if that was a somewhat frequent measurement..but I've only see footage of one Great White - Deep Blue credited as 20 feet...sometimes described as 23 feet!...and if you see the size of this thing you just might buy 23 ft but I think 20 feet is most accurate. Otherwise the next longest shark recorded was a touch under 20 feet. Trivia note I think the shark in the original JAWS was supposed to be 25 feet.

Polar Bears. As acknowledged are clearly taller/bigger than grizzlies. The largest was apparently a polar bear shot in Alaska in 1960 - standing a bit over 11 feet tall as per mounting...and it looks surreal.

smileshy22 said on 4/Aug/19
@HHugo I've heard of Jane, but I've never looked into her story much. What a neat video full of mystery!

Erik C. said on 2/Aug/19
@Rob

Does this site only consist of celebrity humans, or, could it include celebrity animals like Bart the Bear (a 9 foot 6 inch kodiak bear)? I was also just curious where robert wadlow would come up to on such a bear.

cmillzz said on 5/Jul/19
I think over 196 cm, and especially once you hit 2 meters and over is when problems start happening generally.

Nippu said on 5/Jul/19
Yes, i agreed that Palmer was also quite big. Not just tall. But have to say he was not that bulky when he did wrestling. And he was allready really slow at the time. But when he did play with J.Lewis and D. Martin he was qrazy big. Age catch up giant earlier age. We always have to remember that human body is not best if it gets too big. I think best height for human man is around 170-190cm.

Daycringeothon said on 2/Jul/19
I know he was only about 7’7” but the American wrestler Max Palmer should maybe go on the list. He was healthy for many years considering he had Gigantism. He was pretty strong for a pathological giant. I have to look up his stats but I would include him after Wadlow, Väinö, Igor, Stadnyk.
Heck even Jorge Gonzales 7’7” who was a WCW and WWE wrestler should maybe get listed.

smileshy22 said on 2/Jul/19
@Tall In The Saddle - I have to agree. The second article is a joy to read. :)
I can also imagine seeing Robert from almost 9 feet up, but seeing the statue in Alton really made me realize just how big he was. It was amazing to look that far up and actually see him (well, a statue version). His hand was also really cozy to hold (despite it being hot outside).

Nippu said on 1/Jul/19
To me most impressive giants are Wadlow, Myllyrinne, Igor and Stadnyk even he was only around 7`7 at height. Maybe 7`8. Tall in the saddle i mean 6`2 pro atletic. Not avarage man. I ate 6000 calories when i was doing sport for living. I did train 5-6 hours every day. Still i eat around 4500-5000 calories but only train 2 hours x 5 times a week anymore. I have to be careful not to take extra weight =)

cmillzz said on 30/Jun/19
No disrespect to Kosen, but the only thing impressive about him is his height. The poor guy can barely walk.

Daycringeothon said on 29/Jun/19
Most impressive 8 footers are Robert Wadlow, Väinö Myllrinne, Sultan Kosen. Bernard Coyne isn’t mentioned much. He was an eunochoidal giant. He didn’t reach puberty due to it. He had the classic Acromegaly features. His legs were longer then Kosen probably and about same as Väinö. He was supposedly 8’2”+ and still growing a bit,but it’s very unlikely. Probably measured 8 foot and a fraction standing. You could argue 8’-8’2” lying down.

Tall In The Saddle said on 28/Jun/19
@smileshy22 and Nippu - thank you. Very interesting. I don't disbelieve but I'll admit it is still hard to reconcile individuals of such enormous size not eating much more than the average person.

@smileshy22 - my bad for not scrolling down for the first article. That second article was great - Waide Hughes description of his impression of Robert was fantastic - as good as it gets without having met the great man - but as Hughes suggested still ultimately an indescribable experience that one could only understand if they did actually meet Robert. I've sometimes looked up at points in the air that are about 9 feet high and then try to imagine a human - Wadlow himself actually - standing that tall - in my mind's eye I can reasonably imagine it but it's still mind boggling nonetheless.

cmillzz said on 26/Jun/19
I truly think Vaino was by far the healthiest and most mobile 8’0+ giant. Wasn’t he a soldier too? Truly impressive stuff.

Nippu said on 25/Jun/19
Extreme tall people don´t move much so they don´t use so much energy. So mostly they have diet which is around same as 6´2 pro atletic. Depence of the sport of course. There was legend that Myllyrinne in wartime eat 3 times more than avarage person. Truth is he ate only 1,5 or max 2 x more than avarage person. Younger age Myllyrinne did eat more when he was growing and still doing sport stuff. But Wadlow and Myllyrinne needed a lot of water. That part is true. Big people need a lot of water. It is more important than food. I think Wadlow did not have much muscles. So he did not have to eat much. I bet Yao Ming and Shaq needed much more food than Robert. If u are giant atleast don´t be overweight. Igor is probably biggest man today. Too big. Diet would be great for him. He has trouble to handle his weight. Anybody have any idea what is his weight? Igor might be biggest giant ever? I mean i don´t really know but he must weight more than 250kg??? Anyway he must be heavier than Andre was. I would said 30-40kg or more. There is such a big height difference. Around 8-9 inches. Leonid was also very big. And please don´t mention Mils Darden because we have not much solid information about him. He was 7´2-7´6 tall and weighed 500-800lbs depence a source. I Think he was around Andre´s height and even perhaps weight? Well we will never know about that so i only speak modern era giants.

smileshy22 said on 25/Jun/19
Tall in the Saddle- Clicking on 'Show Page 15 article text (OCR)' shows the text of the article, but I'll copy his menu here:
'Wadlow eats no more than the average-sized person, a check at the restaurants where he had his meals Saturday revealed. For breakfast Wadlow had ordinary servings of ham and eggs and toast and coffee. For lunch he had halibut, shrimp salad, three deviled eggs, green beans all regular portions. For dinner he had a bowl of tomato soup, a shrimp cocktail, scallops, hash-brown potatoes, head-lettuce salad, strawberry cream and devils food cake.'

I read in another article that he had 'digestive difficulties' but I haven't found it anywhere else, so I'm not sure if it's true. (Click Here)

Tall In The Saddle said on 23/Jun/19
smileshy22 - Interesting - thank you. Unfortunately I couldn't access the full article.

Without knowing exactly how much Robert ate I would've assumed Robert would've needed to eat a lot more than the average sized person - proportional to his height/size of course - not as if he was a glutton or anything - just a relatively normal intake for his size. Guinness suggest his peak daily food consumption was 8000 calories - 3 x that for average sized males - sounds somewhat fair for a guy around 485 lbs but possibly exaggerated a bit and likely a deductive guess working back from Robert's gneral weight. Perhaps in public Robert just ate as much as the normal person to keep it normal and avert any publicity re how much he ate - just a guess though I could be wrong.

smileshy22 said on 22/Jun/19
@Tall In The Saddle- Robert actually ate about as much as an average person. His drinking, however, was the well above average part. At one restaurant, he had 25 glasses of water and a few other newspaper articles note him drinking more water than average.

This article actually has what he ate (and drank) at one particular restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa: Click Here

Nippu said on 22/Jun/19
As To me i belive Zeng jnglian was around same height as Yao Defen. 236cm about Click Here . Must remember that every photo she is surrounded very short people. Shorter than Yao´s case. 30 years and people are taller in china also. Yao might have be even taller but probably around same height. I think Jinlian was not 8ft even corrected height. My opinion is that she was standing around 7´5-7´7 and corrected 7´8-7´10. Avarage chinese woman was (at that time) around 150cm tall and men around 163cm tall. Today women are 158cm and men 167cm. So it is easy to say we have no picture there she is 8ft or more even corrected height.

Tall In The Saddle said on 21/Jun/19
@smileshy22 - thanks for the article - nice find. Interesting that Robert Wadlow hated references to his own well above average food intake - Aside from his impossible to hide height I guess it might've been because Robert preferred that he be viewed as normal in all other aspects of his life - and normal people aren't generally fussed having their eating habits sprayed out to the masses.

@cmillz - yeah, Wadlow condition was an enlarged pituitary gland producing abnormally high levels of HGH. I've read that Wadlow did exhibit some entry into puberty but at a much slower rate than normal - never full blown. His height chart indicates his greatest growth in a single year was between the ages of 10 at 6'5" to age 11 at 6'11" - a whopping 6". However, the rate of growth did appear to be slowing over a few years - from age 19 to 20 he apparently only grew .75" and from 20 to 21 another .75" - so just 1.5" over 2 years - but then from 21 to 22 he grew 1.5" and, as you said, in just 4 months from age 22 he experienced quite a spike adding a further 1.5".

I also think you're right about Jinlian - likely a corrected height - poor girl was very contorted. I'm not a fan of corrected heights but Jinlian still appeared very tall at any rate - but one should factor the average height in China when considering Jinlian's relative advantage of her own country people people in the few photos that can be found of her.

cmillz said on 20/Jun/19
@Tall In The Saddle
I thought I read that Zeng Jinlian had severe scoliosis. That 8’1.75” was probably a “corrected height”. As in, that’s how tall she would have been without curvature (even then I’m skeptical of that). She probably never stood anywhere near that tall in reality.

cmillz said on 20/Jun/19
What medical condition did Wadlow have? I don’t think he had acromegaly as he didn’t have any of the features, and he literally never hit puberty which is why his growth never stopped. If anything, his growth was speeding up towards the end. He grew 1.5 inches in a span of four months in his last year I believe.

Tall In The Saddle said on 17/Jun/19
Well, I've been a bit gender specific.

To the ladies.

What do we know about Zeng Jinlian?
I recalled her name but there isn't a lot out there on her that I can find. Quick stats are the poor girl only lived to 17 yo but was claimed to have grown to an incredible 8'1.75" - and in the tracking of her growth at different ages it's claimed she wasn't far behind the rate of Robert Wadlow - well they actually claimed she was taller by the same age of 17 yo but Wadlow's height chart indicates that he was 8'3" by age 17.
Apparently she was listed by Guinness - I don't know what verifications they made - she passed away in 1982.

Daycringeothon said on 12/Jun/19
Another giant from Egypt. Mohammed Ghazzi. News reports claimed 8’10”. He was measured by Egyptian medical staff at 7’10.5”. He was mentioned in the Guiness book in the 60’s-70’s. Filipe Fernandes Birrel of Puerto Rico. Don’t know if he was measured by Guiness but supposedly 7’11” tall. He lived into his early 70s.

David Moss said on 12/Jun/19
wow I thought I was tall (6' 7)

Nippu said on 8/Jun/19
Brahim actually stand around 7’10 but his corrected height is 8’1. Sultan stands around same but then they met Sultan can stretch himself taller and his corrected and lying down height is 8’3. At Sultan’s case they basically use him max. Height. Same goes Brahim.

smileshy22 said on 7/Jun/19
It's neat how Nippu is a Vaino expert. I'm a Wadlow expert myself. :)

cmillzz said on 7/Jun/19
Does anyone have a picture of Wadlow at his tallest? Most pictures I’ve seen were taken when Wadlow was still a few inches short of 8’11.

cmillzz said on 6/Jun/19
yeah, Vaino was the 2nd tallest after Wadlow in my opinion.

cmillzz said on 6/Jun/19
is Brahim really 8’1? Thought he seemed shorter than that.

Nippu said on 6/Jun/19
Vaino just look bigger than many other 7´10 giants because he was so "normal". And his posture is perfect. And his hands were perhaps bigger than Wadlow´s? But his feet were relative small for his height. "Only" 58 size. Wadlow have is i remember 72. Well Brahim also have 58. Brahim just visited Finland last week Click Here

Tall In The Saddle said on 4/Jun/19
Many thanks Nippu - great info. So about 7'10" at age 26 yo in 1935 then. I feel good that my guess was pretty good - lol. Extreme heights aren't easy to estimate without some support info - that's why back in the day so many "giants" could greatly exaggerate their heights without anyone questioning them - like what's another 6" when you're already standing well over 7 feet? Hard to argue for the average mere mortal straining to look up. Many giants enhanced their height with hats, extra heel, deceiving clothing etc. and even then they still stood well under the height they claimed. For as much as I know and what you've related re Myllyrinne - Vaino is the real deal - and a very strong argument for 2nd tallest man after Wadlow. Hope more footage comes to light.

Nippu said on 4/Jun/19
Tall in the saddle. I have get my information different places. Straight to Kalervo his nephew. Lot of people who knew or atleast have met him. My grandfather met Vaino several times in wartime against Soviet union but i don´t remember anymore why they met but i remember just what he told me about Vaino. Also i saw then i was just a kid early 80´s document about Vaino with some video material what i have been able to find after that. Also document showed a lot of pictures. I have also seen Vaino´s bike and his clothes and other stuff what u can also see he was using many of his pictures. And of course his bike. His clothes were HUGE as his bike also. I have seen his measurements and Vaino did not have any growth spurt. He was about 220-222cm then he join army and around 226cm (7´5) when he get out. He just never stop growing. In that video Vienna he was not 8´2 yet. He was around age 26 238cm tall in my opinion. Because he was later measured very soon 238cm and 243cm 1-3 year after that. He actually reach 8ft quite young but after that he still did some growing but really slow so it was hard to even notice that. That also might saved his life. 1 time he was measured 245cm and what i know sure he was over 252cm when he died. Correted height more because his knees did not go straight. I have said that doctor is still alive and live my moms neighbour and i have knew also this doctor all my life. But around 2-3 years ago i just knew he was a one of doctors who measured him. He is bright older man. He said he never forget that height. I did but it was 252,8cm or something like that but not fully straight. I have been planning to give Kalervo this information becauce he might like to talk this doctor but i guess been too "busy" to contact him. Well i´m quite busy actually. I have my own company and have to travel a lot. I think at best Vaino did stand atleast 248cm but corrected height might have been 255cm. Lying donwn 253cm. Who knows because they did not use corrected heihgt. When he had his rheumatism i think he did stand around 243cm last years of his life. U can se he bend his knees and also don´t stand tall as he could. He never try to look bigger than he was. He never wear silly hats or boots. His shoes are actually really slim. Yes i have seen them too. There was no need to try look bigger. He was just big enough. If u are 7´7-7´8 and try to tell u are tallest man in the world u will need hats and boots to do that. So my answer is that Vaino was about 7´10 at that time in Vienna. And not any grow spurts after that =) Just slow and steady growing. That is why his heart and other organs could keep pace to be healthy. Atleast healty as 8ft+ man can be. One thing is what i´m not sure. Did they try to stop Vaino´s growing. Never even think about that... Now i must.

viper said on 2/Jun/19
I figured Andre to be the largest human ever

Tall In The Saddle said on 1/Jun/19
In the clip linked below Vaino is described as twenty six years old, an eight feet two inches tall Finnish giant, visiting a restaurant in Vienna, Austria and then boarding a river boat.

Now if we just took the description on face value - we just might buy Vaino being 8'2" as at that time - he has already grown so far beyond practical relative comparison to other humans and he looks huge all round. In reality they've quoted near enough to Vaino's max. height which he had not yet achieved in 1935 - I guess he was somewhat less at this point.

I've read that Vaino was already 7'4" at age 21, grew steadily but experienced another growth spurt in his 30s - so not sure what height he actually was at the time of this 1935 clip - 7'8"- 7'10" maybe? Hard to say.

Height detective, where are you?

Also, perhaps Vaino expert Nippu knows the exact height as at 1935.

Imagine if they ever thought to organise Wadlow and Myllyrinne to stand alongside each other when both were still alive? - say around 1940 - now that would've been something!

Click Here

Perhaps Nippu can help out on this.

Daycringeothon said on 31/May/19
Mills Darden was supposedly found by a Negress woman (sorry for the colloquial outdated term) as a baby. Then raised by her. That’s one such story. As a grown man his loudest shout could be heard from many miles away. Another tall tale perhaps. 1000 pounds on a 7’6” man is just massive. There most be a drawing of what he looked like. At least representation of his massive proportions. Walter Hudson the man with the largest waist 10 feet in girth. Largest chest measurement Robert Earl Hughes.

Nippu said on 30/May/19
There are plenty of "pictures" about Mills Darden. Sadly probably there is no picture about him. There were several pictures about him inn TheTallestman site but we figured all them to be hoax at the time. Sadly the site is gone... don´t know why? We lose a lot of information there. Well i know site and all the information was copied somewhere but haven´t seen new site? Some reason people make fake photos of giants. Most of u remember Grady Patterson. U still can find those fake photos about him if u just use google. My opinion is around 85-95% of giant heights has been exaggerate. Older the case easier to exaggerate. Even Sultan Kosen has to use corrected height. Actually he is standing around 7´10-7´11. But he can strech himself to over 8ft. But he can not stand 8´3 as he is listed. Jerry Sokoloski is good expample modern giant who exaggerate his height. He claim he is 7´7 (still) and he is quite if u compare him real 7´7 giant. Jerry is 7´2+ anyway but max. 7´4. Late Neil Fingelton (7´7) darws him easily. Neil was measured like should be as former record holder G. Greener.

cmillzz said on 29/May/19
Ever heard of Mills Darden? He was said to have stood 7’5” and possibly weighed 1,100+ lbs, pretty crazy. He would have made Andre look tiny.

This is an alleged photo of Darden. Whether it actually is him or not, I don’t know. I certainly wouldn’t say there’s a zero chance that it’s him. I remember seeing that photo in TheTallestMan forum, and was supposedly taken circa 1847.

Click Here

Fidus said on 28/May/19
Slightly random trivia, perhaps, but I've seen a few past commenters mention the biblical Goliath. The Masoretic Text version of the Bible gives his height as roughly 9 feet 9 inches (2.97 metres), which would indeed make him remarkably huge. However, the Masoretic Text in many ways represents and older and more corrupted version of the Old Testament. All other more ancient references, including the Septuagint, to Goliath's height have him at 6 feet and 9 inches (2.06 metres), making him an indeed imposing figure, especially in an ancient setting, but still perfectly "realistic", height-wise on par with the typical modern NBA player.

Nippu said on 28/May/19
We all know few facts. Height of the doctor (5´11) and height of Carroll´s Crutshes (6´0). So Doctor Prezio is around same height as Wadlow´s father was. Now u can watch Difference between Wadlow vs his father and Carroll vs Prezio. No matter how hard i try to imagine i can see only around 7´2 man and corrected height max 8 ft. Carroll´s features don´t also support his claimed height. His hands are not huge for example. And he does not look gigantic. He look like NBA center with really poor posture. But of course we can see that Carroll has lost a lot of his height but not 1 and half foot. 8´7 would make him almost as tall as Wadlow and i can´t see that. In that picture it is impossible. But perhaps he did grew later even when he was not able to stand anymore. But picture is showing that he was corrected height in that era. 7´7 to max. 8 ft. I belive my eyes mostly and facts what we know 100% sure. There is no way that Carroll was taller than Myllyrinne or Kosen. Not even corrected height. He just is too small for that in any picture. And my opinion u are as tall as u stand. No more. Corrected height is odd. Every giant lose inches of height. Carroll just lose more than most of them. But we know Carroll was standing 7´6 atleast. So that 8ft corrected height might be true later? Just compere the pictures and u can see what i mean. Click Here

Daycringeothon said on 17/May/19
Carroll’s 8 foot measurement in 1959 was that later in the day or late afternoon?

Guiness by that time would have done the measurement no doubt. I think his height could vary easily by 2-2.5” throughout the entire day. Guiness at that time weren’t as strict.Thus he probably averaged a lower height 7’10-7’11” range in 1959. So his corrected height would drop to maybe 8’4” range. Still very tall but nothing next to Wadlow. Carroll head size was nothing on Wadlow’s scale.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 16/May/19
The average guess is just silly...clearly hoping gets an upgrade to 9ft

Nippu said on 12/May/19
I have been this site ”member” since beginning or so? I`m not a troll. Guinness have really poor information about giants. As i mention i don`t know how tall Carroll and Rogan there. Photo pevidence about Carroll give him something like what i said. Rogan it is impossible to say. So many giants were much shorter what newspapers said.

Daycringeothon said on 11/May/19
Rogan was measured at 8’9” that was a lying down measurement (not officiallly by Guinness). He was listed at 259cm 8’6” in many early Editions of the Guinness Book. Then 264cm 8’8” measured (in a sitting position) can’t take that as being reliable. just my opinion. John F Carroll had bad spinal curvature and was measured at 8 foot in 1959. He stood barely 7’1” with his 6 foot crutches in color pictures near his death. The corrected height was 8’7.75” which is still possible but also up for debate.

Adolf Demison said on 8/May/19
Rob, how do you think, if he wouldn't die, he would be still growing?
If yes, how his growth plates could be open at 22 years old

Harry Sachs said on 7/May/19
@Nippu Rogan and Carroll were 7'7 because you typed it right? I am pretty sure since Rogan and Carroll are in the Guinness Book as being confirmed 8'9 and 8'7 3/4 then those are their heights.I will assume you are a troll just looking for attention. I will ignore anything else you type.

Nippu said on 1/May/19
Nobody really has any proven information Rogan or Carrol`s height. My opinion is that they were 7`7 to max. 8ft. U do remember that doctor was ”measured” late mr. Stadnyk 8`5 and real life he was ”only” 7`7 max. Carroll look like 7`6 in picture evidence. His standing height was around 7`2 at that colorpicture. With very bad postery. Vaino was max 255cm lying down no more. If i remember it right his dead height was 252,8cm. But was not totally straight because of his knees. Andre the giant would look really tiny compare to Vaino. He would not reach even his shoulder height.

Nippu said on 29/Apr/19
Tall in The Saddle i have seen all Vaino´s videos. One is missing there Vaino is actually measured. Bacically every nurse and a lot of doctors take photos with Vaino. We have only seen few of them. Because they are old pictures and people find them time to time. And some are so old that they don´t use internet.

cmillzz said on 27/Apr/19
Is there any evidence at all that Rogan was anywhere near 8’8 though? I mean he couldn’t even stand from what I’ve read about him.

cmillzz said on 27/Apr/19
I have to admit Vaino almost seems taller than 8’3 in some of the old pics I’ve seen of him.

cmillzz said on 27/Apr/19
Vaino is the most impressive giant imo. I’d even argue he was in better shape/more healthy than Andre the Giant for most of his life.

Tall In The Saddle said on 25/Apr/19
Nippu - I'm totally on board re Vaino's "presence". No disrespect to other "giants" but despite his immense height, Vaino appears as a well proportioned, exceptionally mobile, strong, broad shouldered well featured man. Of course I didn't know him but the photos appear to depict a man of amiable disposition even given the pitfalls of his size.

That photo of Vaino in hospital posing with the nurse is insane - outside of using a particularly small person for the shot - the size difference really upholds how big Vaino was. His existence, stats and life story should be more popularly circulated - I wasn't aware of him until I read about him on the now defunct TallestMan site.

PS - tried to open a vid on the FB page without success. Any heads up as to where one might find more vids on Vaino - I think I read there is a documentary on him but it might cost some money to watch.

Annonymous said on 23/Apr/19
How far can we go back because a third century Roman Emperor named Maximinus Thrax was reportedly 8'6", just absolutely massive and freaky strong.

cmillzz said on 17/Apr/19
He could have topped out at least 9’6” anyhow, possibly 10 feet... For his own sake though, it’s probably a good thing he passed before ever reaching such ungodly heights. Would have been bedridden eventually.

Luckycharm said on 16/Apr/19
Gretz if he had lived another 5 to 7 years he would have cleared 10 feet , there were posts by others here indicated he was well on his way to be just that tall
Rob what do you think his maximum fully grown height would be had he properly live until he stop growing ?? I’ll say around 10 feet tall ..... give or take an inch ..... also notice his growth started accelerate a year before his death meaning there was still plenty of growth left in him ..... also he was in enough good shape to grow a great deal of kink without endangering his own health

Gretz said on 13/Apr/19
Rob would it be possible that Wadlow right out of bed could have been 9'.025" out of bed near his passing,I know that people only 7 foot can lose two inches throughout the day.In the doctors reports do thay ever say what time he was measured?And if this guy lived another 5-7 years could he have topped 9'2"?

Daycringeothon said on 31/Mar/19
Wadlow’s wingspan near his death over 9’6”? Vaino Myllyrinne’s wingspan at peak height any guess 8’9”-9’0”? These 8 footers had disproportionately long hands and arms even for their respected heights 8’11”, and 8’3”. Read somewhere Constantine aka. Julius Koch the eunuchoidal giant had 14.5” long hands I’m about 99% sure.

Tall In The Saddle said on 28/Mar/19
@smileshy22 - Love the site. A height chart with the letter included would be an added bonus.

khaled taban said on 27/Mar/19
I think he is full 9 feet

smileshy22 said on 26/Mar/19
@Tall in the Saddle- I could make a height chart page and include the letter there. I don't know if it's under copyright, but I'm sure I could put it on the site. I'm glad you enjoy it! :)

Nippu said on 26/Mar/19
Rogan and Carroll´s height are so doubtful that it is really hard to give them own page. Both were probably under 7´6-7´8 tall? But there are other giants who might deserve it Like Brahim Takioullah. We know his height. Proven 8ft deserve own page. My opinion.

Tall In The Saddle said on 22/Mar/19
@cmillz - totally agree.

I would say after Wadlow it would be a tie for 2nd - Vaino Myllyrinne and Sultan Kosen both at 8'3" (I think this was Kosen's measured standing height and not height corrected)

cmillzz said on 21/Mar/19
By far the tallest in recorded history. I believe Vaino Myllyrinne was probably the second tallest in standing height. Rogan and Carroll’s “measurements” are very dubious in my opinion.

Daycringeothon said on 20/Mar/19
The tallest brits in UK in the 1970s
1. Terence Keenan 7’6”
2. Chris Greener 7’5”
3. Oliver Stone 7’4.5”

Not much is known about Terence Keenan other than he lived in the Rock Ferry,Merseyside area. He was born in 1942 and was technically short as a teenager until a huge growth spurt in his late teens. He was mentioned as 7’6” in the 1968 Guinness Book in the list of men over 7’4” from 31 countries. He probably is long passed since he couldn’t walk by the mid 70’s. Sadly Greener took the title from him in the early 70s as ‘Tallest fully mobile man’ in The UK.

Gtod said on 16/Mar/19
Rob you should put the second tallest guy on here too

Tall In The Saddle said on 9/Mar/19
@smileshy22 - I was the one who enquired about the physician's letter on TTM and you were so kind to provide it in no time at all. Thanks again.

It answered the BIG QUESTION as to where 8'11.1" came from.

Upon Robert's passing contemporary newspapers reported that the final measurement made on 27 June 1940 was 8'10.3". Early editions of the GBWR first listed 8'9.5" as Robert's final height (this figure was actually Robert's 2nd last measurement made in Feb 1940), then later 8'10.3" (newspaper reported upon Robert's passing) and then finally locked on to 8'11.1" (as per physician's letter) some time during the mid 60s and held on to it ever since.

It seems that Robert's father must've expressly requested the letter from the physician re Robert's final height so as to include in the biography - and that letter detailed Robert's height to be exactly 2720 mm - which converted to 8'11.09" and then was rounded up to 8'11.1" by the GBWR.

Still not sure where the newspapers got 8'10.3" from - even though they said it was the final measurement made on 27 June 1940. I was surprised that they actually measured in metric way back then -so perhaps 8'10.3" was simply an errant conversion from the metric measurement.

2700 mm actually converts to 8'10.3" My guess is that somehow the final figure of 2720mm was perhaps misread/typed as 2700 mm leading to an incorrect imperial conversion of 8'10.3" which was generally reported.

The site you have put together is brilliant. I had previously searched for a copy of Gentleman Giant but whatever was available was a bit pricey. You've linked to a really cheap price - thanks.

Unless I have oversighted it doesn't appear that you have included a copy of the physician's letter on your site - do you think you would be able to include the letter for future qualification as to where 8'11.09" was sourced from - or is the letter still under copyright protection?

As it stands, aside from the medical files which I hope are still intact, that letter is the only primary source document for Robert's final accurately recorded height. If that isn't preserved future pundits might refer back to the contemporary newspaper reports and over time misreport the final height as 8'10.3"

Nik said on 6/Mar/19
@ Rob - How long were his legs?

Nik Ashton said on 5/Mar/19
The average vote is very high considering there have been no reports of him being so tall!

smileshy22 said on 4/Mar/19
I'm a big fan of Robert (probably his biggest) and I'm the one who posted the physician's letter on TTM. When the site shut down, I came up with the idea to make one of my own, but this one is dedicated to just Robert. I'm really proud of it and I hope it fills a little part of the hole that TTM left behind. :)

Here's the site: Click Here

As for the height estimation? I'd say it's good ol' 8 ft. 11.09. ;)

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 3/Mar/19
Rob, I would think close to 9ft1 out of bed?

Nippu said on 10/Feb/19
John F. Carrol was never even close to 9ft. Probably not even 8ft. There are no such photo where he is more than 7´6. 8ft corrected height is his max. There are a lot bigger and taller giants than Carroll. We should have tons of photos of him to proof that but there are not even one.

Tall In The Saddle said on 23/Jan/19
To each his own but personally I don't subscribe to height correction - it kind of defeats the concept. The wonder is not only for a body to grow so long but also withstand curvature and still stand so very tall - the term height speaks for itself. That Wadlow could grow so long and still stand so tall is to date incomparable by far.


Also it seems height correction is only reserved for those suffering severe cases of curvature - if you look closely Wadlow himself appeared to have some curvature - if that was "corrected" on paper I'm pretty sure there would've been no problem estimating him to be over the 9 feet mark - I prefer it the way it is - standing a perfect and actual 8'11.1" tall. Also, given his size and logistics I wouldn't necessarily assume that Wadlow could hightail it to the doctors as easily and quickly as we might - and it's anyone's guess how much height a man of Wadlow's stature could lose in even just the first two waking hours - especially when you consider the higher level of effort to move a body of such size around even if only for several steps.

I've always been somewhat sceptical of John F Carroll's corrected height - greater invitation for errors in such calculations than a straight up height measurement. Anyway, here's a particularly in depth examination of Carroll's corrected height - the article notes that there isn't much photographical evidence on the man:-


Link - Click Here

Ellis 6'7.25 said on 16/Jan/19
Definitely over 9 foot in shoes, or the typical shoes he always wore. I think the most interesting thing to think about is if he hit over nine feet at anytime in the day barefoot. Usually, doctors measure closer to the morning though. My guess is that Mr. Wadlow was measured after an hour or two out of bed. Considering his massive height, I would say his height out of bed is 8'11.75. Besides Wadlow, the only other person that could make a case for 9 feet was John F. Carroll who at 7'8 and 1/4(last measured height) had very severe spinal curvature. At 8'0 his height was corrected at 8'7 3/4, who's to say at 7'8 1/4 he didn't hit the 9 foot mark or was very close.

Sandy Cowell said on 9/Jan/19
I think everyone who is at all interested in height has heard of Robert Wadlow!

My brother used to get a new Guinness Book of Records every birthday, and it perusing through them that I first read about him - as the tallest man ever!

Gretz said on 20/Dec/18
Maybe they where unaware of such variations at the time,it was the early 20`s.But it would have been great to measure him after 10 hours sleep.guess we will never no but I don`t doubt a 9'0" max at one point for Wadlow.

Gretz said on 16/Dec/18
Rob I think thats some kind of circus float,do you think Wadlow right out of bed could have been 9'0" I mean how much does a man of such unprecedented height could have lost throughout the day,I think 2.5 inches is not out of the realm of possibility.He was very awkward and unsteady to begin with,and 9'5" if he would have lived 5-7 more years is not unreasonable.

Oliver said on 10/Dec/18
Click Here
Hello, Rob.
What do you think of this?
Thank you.

David Curtin said on 7/Dec/18
Robert died due to a poorly fitted leg brace which cut his ankle that got infected he died two months before Penicillin was widely available which could have saved his life ...

Michael, 5'10" 178 cm said on 3/Dec/18
Robert Wadlow was 8’11.1” when he was last measured before he died, so he was definitely 8’11” shortly before his death at the very young age at 22. God bless that man, I hope he’s in heaven. He must’ve went through a lot of suffering being that tall and having the conditions he had at his height. Robert’s record will never be broken, he was and always will be the tallest man in recorded history.

Joe sunday said on 25/Nov/18
There is no way that Robert Wadlow was 8,11” tall I think more like 8,7” tall more likely

Dream(5'9.5 said on 22/Nov/18
Rob, I'm curious: what would a 9'5.25" person look with Robert?

Tall In The Saddle said on 4/Nov/18
Too bad about THETALLESTMAN - an interesting and unique site.

It was a poster from that site who upon my request kindly provided a scan of the physician's letter contained in the 1943 bio on Wadlow - the letter confirming Wadlow's final height to be 272 cm - the only official first hand source for that height - which took some time before it was popularly circulated. It appears the information was requested by Wadlow's father for the very purpose of including it in the bio published several years after Wadlow's death.

ROB - did you obtain a copy of that letter from the TALLESTMAN site? I may still have a copy if you're interested in including same in your introductory images for Wadlow - the source document might get lost in time again otherwise.

Wilfred Yeung said on 26/Oct/18
thetallestman website which have a tremendous amount of valuable giant information including Robert Wadlow is blocked by STRATO for unknown reason for months. Is Anyone able to fix it here pls?

Kawair2 said on 19/Oct/18
I think He was about 6 ft 1,5 inches because he wore high heels, sorry bout that. :(

Gretz said on 26/Sep/18
Oh and Jt in that pic with Arnold and Andre he does look taller in the pics when they are together with Wilt.Something must be wrong there,as I they think they measured him twice in his prime at 6'1.5".I mean these guys look about 7'2.75" if Arnold is that tall.I think he was never over 6'0" otherwise nothing makes sense.Thats why perspective height and direction can change things A great deal we can`t take all pics at face value,even if taken from the ring if they are looking up can scew things.In 1984 when Andre is dumpin champagne on Hogan to me he looks a solid 6 inches taller than Hogan,everything is level it is better than an in ring pic.And Andre is probably 6'11.5" at this point to me.i will try to find a pic with him and billed at 6'4" dutch savage although probably 6'2" Andre is in his prime and very tall next to him.I posted it over 10 years ago you may even remember it.

viper said on 21/Sep/18
You could play Wadlow in basketball in certain situations. He doesn't have to move. Just have him right under the basket.

Gretz said on 18/Sep/18
Thanks for your response Rob,i always like to here your input you are unbiased and very accurate I.M.O on determining a person`s height.I was curious as to how tall Andre the Giant may have peaked at?Out of bed in 1972 i think he could have been as tall as 7'0.75".and as far as Wadlow I think right out of bed right before his unfortunate demise he could have well hit that 9'0" mark.Not that it matters when you reach close to that incredible height,the only two people that are maybe taller are john Middleton(9'3") and Goliath of Gath(9'9").Don`t have any evidence to verify so it`s like spitting into the wind.I would really like to hear your opinion rob.

Gretz said on 17/Sep/18
Myllyrinne at 8'3" as tall as Kosen is by far the most athletic of the 12 or so people known to have reached 8'0"+.in fact kosen might even be taller his spine seems to be crooked and he needs crutches to get around.but Myllyrinne seems to be athletic even with the great height,he could have been a basketball player or even a pro wrestler.He is like a one in 5,000,000,000 person extrodinary.

Gretz said on 23/Aug/18
Rob whats your opinion on Eddie caramels height?there have been claims that he was close to 9'0".In that famous pic with his parents he looks almost that tall but his parents both seemed under 5'0"(you could tell they where very tiny.then i see pics of him from giants and girls that no longer exist and he can`t be more than 25 and I see no evidence of spinal curvature,this is outside a bar and one guy looks 6'4"-5 and he is no way a foot taller than him.if i had to bet i think his peak height would be maybe slightly taller than andre the giant 7'0" but not as tall as richard Kiel 7'2.5".and why did some of these guys have to jack their heights up to ridiculous levels?Jack earle visited the circus and was taller than the guy who was supposed to be the tallest man in the world.He was 7'7.5" and this guy looked it,like I said I seen a postcard with him and Al tomani and they where billed at 8'8.5-and 8'4.5.take a foot off each guy and that`s still dame impressive.i mean i have people swearing mills darden was 7'6" 1020lbs.,now that could be true but other than a fake pic floating around on the net 10 years ago,we have no proof to back that up.no one can agree on andre`s height and weight and we have 1,000+ video pics of him.

Tall In The Saddle said on 28/Jul/18
Wadlow was measured exactly by physicians on a periodic basis - last measurement just 18 days prior to his death. He was measured in metric at an exact 2720 mm which was then converted to an exact 8'11.09" and rounded to 8'11.1" - his growth rate at that stage did not suggest that he would've grown to 9 feet in his final 18 days. Personally I don't need Wadlow to be 9 feet at all- he was a scant .91" shy of that mark anyway. However, it is plausible that if he were measured immediately upon rising he might've hit that mark - I mean potentially how much height might a man of his incredible height lose in the first 1-2 hours let alone first 5-8 hours? Anyway if Wadlow could've been measured at his maximum high I think it would be fair to claim the maximum high as his height - since the title is the world's tallest man after all - the tallest a man ever stood at any time. Like the fastest man ever - he only ever hit that record time once whatever his peak averages were otherwise but it still holds as the fastest time ever recorded in it's own right.

MAD SAM said on 14/Jul/18
I would say he’s over 9 feet tall at 275 cm

Tall In The Saddle said on 4/Jul/18
Personally I don't think Wadlow's record is protected simply because of earlier medical intervention in modern times or that Wadlow's own height necessarily represents and intermediary point to even greater human height.
I think Wadlow's height actually represents near enough to human height at it's full potential. Even back in Robert's day there was no one close - save for heavily corrected height claims due to extreme curvature - even then, Wadlow, still standing reasonably straight, exceeded those corrected heights. It's a wonder that Wadlow's own body didn't badly twist and curve as he grew through to 8'11.1" - though there were signs that was beginning to happen at the very later stages.
Note that anyone else recorded around 8 feet or a touch above (there haven't been many) already appear severely compromised - see Wadlow at that same height and above - he still looks quite healthy with the capacity to grow a good deal more without any kinks.
Wadlow's growth rate had slowed in later years - the last measurement 27 June 1940 was about 3 weeks prior to his passing. It's possible that he perhaps grew some fractions of an inch since -the growth rate wasn't necessarily uniform- I would guess that if he were measured in state laying down he would've likely exceeded 9 feet. However, the family forbade any examination post death - which, as it should've been, was correctly and respectfully observed.

Howtallcouldwadlowgrowhadhelivedlonger said on 22/Jun/18
A lot of interesting finds and brain storming here
But have any of you ever wonder how tall could wadlow have reached had he lived into his 30s ?? Could early hyperpituitarism permanently halt his bone maturation process thus result in his continue growth in adulthood where it should have resulted in acromegaly ..... a stage where epiphyseal plate was closed and bone increase in thickness instead of length

How come none of the doctors ever predict his final full grown height ?? What is his final height and how tall do you guys think he could have potentially reached ?? I say he could have reach close to 10 feet tall or close to it taken his growth rate and human structure limitation ..... what do you guys think (how about you editor rob ??)

Jesse said on 20/Jun/18
No one will ever take this record from robert with easy diagnosis of his condition in western world where of course its easier for a giant like himself to live a "healthy" life.

Gretz said on 30/May/18
Just watched the brain that wouldn`t die over the weekend,Eddie Caramel even had special effects appliances added to his head.This guy was no taller than a prime Andre(maybe7'0")big frame but not on Andre`s level he would be nothing incredible today.

Gretz said on 15/May/18
And while i`m at it I would like to reduce (Jack Earle who really was a very tall man)and Al tomani in a post card the claimed a height of 8'8' and 8'4' respectivley.In reality it seems 7'7.5" for Earle and 7'4 for Tomani.Is this not tall enough already,it`s really laughable that you would have to make these guys taller.

Gretz said on 15/May/18
also as regaurds to Eddie Carmel,i feel like i should try to expose the sham of some of these giants.He is out front of the crown room and still young enough he is not bent over at all.there is a guy there in the 6'4"-5 range and considering the other people with him i would be suprised if A peak Andre was not as tall as him there or at least within an inch.this guy is lucky if he is 7'1".and pics with his 4'8"-10 parents aside he is no where near 9'0".Wake up people!

Gretz said on 15/May/18
would John Middelton ever get any consideration for worlds tallest man ever?He may have reached the mark of 9'3" i know he died 395 years ago but why should he be rejected just from that fact Rob,these people where not idiots i am sure they documented his height.in fact i heard a story where he placed his hand which i think beat out Wadlow`s size and it was high enough where you would have to consider him being that height

Gretz said on 11/May/18
would John Middelton ever get any consideration for worlds tallest man ever?He may have reached the mark of 9'3" i know he died 395 years ago but why should he be rejected just from that fact Rob,these people where not idiots i am sure they documented his height.in fact i heard a story where he placed his hand which i think beat out Wadlow`s size and it was high enough where you would have to consider him being that height

Conan said on 4/May/18
I think his morning height was 9'0" (274 cm). So I give him at 9'0" (274 cm)

Bobby said on 16/Apr/18
The average guess has him at roughly 8'11.75, weak 9ft then. He was massive. Imagine if he was built like Superman at that height, that'd be godlike.

sulu2018 said on 3/Apr/18
How come he was listed here as 8 ft 10 3/8 before you changed him to 8ft 11.09?

slothee said on 29/Mar/18
No fractions for this one? Shouldn’t he be listed as 8’11 1/8” or even just 8’11”?

Tall In The Saddle said on 28/Mar/18
The addition of Myllyrinne is great. Thanks.

I don't necessarily agree with the methodology in determining the "heights" of both Rogan and Carroll (both corrected heights in view of spinal curvature I believe) but that's just my opinion - I still think their additions to the site would be good also.

Side note - re the veracity of newspapers. I checked contemporary reports for Wadlow's 20th and 21st birthdays. The newspapers in question were dated Feb 1938 and Feb 1939 respectively. Though separated by one year both papers gave Robert's height as 8'8.5"! Online growth charts indicate Wadlow to have been 8'7" at age 20 and then 8'8" at age 21 but growing a further 3.1" from age 21 to age 22.4. For some reason the charts omit Robert's height as at age 22 which was generally reported to be 8'9.5".

Again, the medical files would be invaluable to obtain his exact year by year metric measurements to ascertain the exact rates/trends in his growth. Online charts indicate a slowing in growth from age 18-21 but an apparent rate increase thereafter thru to his passing. The exactness of those charts may be as questionable as many of the newspaper reports have been be found to be.

I've read that Wadlow's puberty was a relatively slow process, the cessation of puberty normally sees the halt of growth with the fusing of the bones growth plates. It has been said that he was growing right up until his passing. His pituitary gland was apparently pumping out huge amounts of HGH - far above normal. So a slowing in growth may've been related to his actually nearing the cessation of puberty. Otherwise, I would guess the continued production of HGH notwithstanding, the potential growth of the human skeletal frame has to have a finite point it can grow to.

But I'm no expert on this. Hypothetically, if there was no puberty or at least permanently delayed cessation of puberty along with continued high production of HGH I still can't a imagine the human skeletal frame having limitless growth potential - but I could be wrong.

PS - subject to the veracity of the growth charts it's interesting to note that Robert was highlighted as sick upon his 17th birthday dropping nearly 60 lbs since his last birthday BUT in the following year thru to his 18th birthday his body came back with a vengeance claiming back the lost weight and then some and piling on a whopping 4 " in height - his greatest growth between any two given birthdays.

viper said on 27/Mar/18
So the 8-11.1 is correct If he also measured 8-11.09

Nippu said on 27/Mar/18
Rob. Yes that was right picture. I can open it??? I am the ones who are seriosly doubtfull about Rogan´s height. And also Carroll´s. Just lack of evidence nothing more.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 27/Mar/18
Rob, could you add John Rogan?


He’d be the second tallest man who ever lived at 8ft9 and was the tallest before Wadlow surpassed him. He died in 1905 aged 37

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 27/Mar/18
This looks more plausible.

I think most here want him pushed closer to 9ft

Tall In The Saddle said on 27/Mar/18
It would be interesting to know what time of day Wadlow was measured. I would assume the medicos knew that Wadlow would be at his tallest upon first rise but whether they endeavoured to measure him at that time I don't know. Perhaps the medical files contain data for same. It would be apt for the tallest man to be measured at his very "tallest". If the final measurement wasn't in the morning then I would guess that Wadlow would've exceeded 9 feet at best.

Re Vaino Myllyrinne. Do you think you may add him to the site? In my book, 2nd only to Wadlow. Though 8" inches shorter but still a formidable 8'3" Myllyrinne brings a real "giant" look to the table. He was a beast, big all round, huge hands and moved well as per the linked clip though he hadn't reach his full height at that time. Not popularly known as far as I've read (I didn't know much until recently) but I think he should be.

Nippu said on 26/Mar/18
I found new one of Myllyrinne. It is Wadlow´s site but... Click Here

Myllyrinne in Birmingham, England.

Nippu said on 26/Mar/18
Great job Tall In The Saddle =)

Rob have you seen this Click Here

Read also comments. This is hardcore data from Fivefootnine. There are also several other his works.

Tall In The Saddle said on 24/Mar/18
After some thought the 8'10.3" measurement doesn't appear so mysterious now.

On face value it was impossible to reconcile how 8'10.3" and 8'11.09" could be related to the same 27 June 1940 measurement and work out how a discrepancy of an odd .79" could arise - so it seemed perhaps they represented 2 separate measurements.

However one has to remember that the above imperial values were conversions from metrically recorded data on file. Working back to the metric values that would've generated the above imperial values - the simple difference between the two is 2700mm vs 2720mm (viz 20mmm). Given same it is lot easier to see how a simple error might've been made.

I now believe the figure reported by the newspapers was in fact sourced from the hospital and meant to represent the 27 June 1940 measurement. By way of newspaper or hospital error, or even ill conceived round down, I think they simply converted from the wrong metric base value. 8'10.3" is an exact conversion from 2700 mm = 106.299 rounded to 106.3" = 8'10.3". They simply didn't factor the last and crucial 20mm of Wadlow's final metric height into the conversion.

Likely one newspaper ran with the wrong figure and others followed suit (false positive corroboration) or the hospital replicated their own error to several newspapers (replication of single source error). I believe the former explanation is more likely. Dr Charles letter clearly states an exact 2720mm in his cover letter. In support the Dr also notes that he is sending file copies of the measurements made in 35,36 and the all important final measurement made 27 Jun 1940. No reason for the good Dr to add on an extra 20 mm for kicks - it was always there on file but not accounted for in the newspaper reported imperial conversion.

So GBWR actually got it right....eventually. They did progressively move through listings of 8'9.5" (newspaper source), 8'10.3" (newspaper source) before settling and maintaining the medically verified 2720mm = 8'11.1" -a slight round up of the exact 8'11.09" detailed in the letter.

Tall In The Saddle said on 23/Mar/18
Hi Rob - I will try to chase up the source for the 8'10.3" measurement. Outside of an incorrect conversion from cm to feet/inches I would also guess that fig. wasn't pulled out of thin air. A poster on the other site suggested that it was a measurement made in the Spring of 1940 (Mar thru to May?) prior to the 27 June 1940 measurement. I had already asked if they could point to a source - they replied not offhand and that they would have to hunt it down.

I agree that while the physician's letter is the best available evidence at hand multiple newspaper reports of a final height of 8'10.3" as at Wadlow's passing do present as a nagging side issue which would be nice to resolve.

heightdetective said on 22/Mar/18
Hi Rob. Are you planning to readjust Wadlows listed height to 272 cm again now that there is documents supporting this height?

Tall In The Saddle said on 22/Mar/18
Hey Rob

The letter presents as a virtual primary source for 2720mm - 8'11.09" - provided directly by the physician who periodically measured Wadlow over many years and of course conducted the final measurement. Not sure what else one would require as proof short of directly viewing the medical files.

The newspapers were second hand sources and often proved they were not consistent across the board with giants in general and even Wadlow specifically - some even citing the Feb 1940 fig of 8'9.5" as the final height. Even Dr C M Charles in his letter points to an instance in which Wadlow's height in 1937 was exaggerated by a newspaper to be 8'9" while his actual height was 8'5". The letter reads as very legit, not prone to exaggeration or inflation and with no reason to do same - Wadlow was the tallest man ever without anyone close. If there was a tempt to exaggerate it would've been to push Wadlow to 9 feet - and they obviously didn't do that even though he was a scant .9" shy of it in reality. The letter simply reads as a clinical provision of the facts. The wording in the letter imlies that Wadlow Snr requested the info (viz 'if this is not the information you desire......") the measurements likely requested in preparation for the biography published in 1944.
The newspaper clipping on this page states "according to the records on file of a physician" as opposed to "as advised by Wadlow's physician". Likely the hospital was contacted and someone pulled the details from the file - either incorrectly providing either an obsoleted measurement or an incorrect conversion from cm or what have you.

They did measure in mm/cm - link to old medical text relating to a young Wadlow that reflects this:-
Click Here

I think the methodology for proof is sound enough here to reinstate the orig. 8'11.1" or an exact 8'11.09". A letter from the physician is as definitive evidence as anyone could hope for short of direct viewing of medical fiels and certainly rates as far more legit than several newspaper reports which might've simply copied from each or pulled from the same single erroneous source as the time of Wadlow's passing.

I strongly vote for Wadlow's height to be listed at 8'11.09"

Tall In The Saddle said on 22/Mar/18
Hey Rob. Have been dropping a few posts at The Tallest Man site. It has been very productive. They really know their stuff. I threw in what I knew - a lot of the data coming from their own contributors over time anyway - it was just piecing it together and making sense of the known in order to try and answer the unknown or questionable.
The apparent 1943 letter from Dr C M Charles to Wadlow's father (citing 2720 mm = 8'11".09) always presented itself as the main key and a logical explanation as to why it took a while for 8'11.1" to see the light of day. I figured that letter would be referenced in the biog. The Gentleman Giant published a year later in 1944. As luck would have it a contributor at the Tallest Man had the book and was good enough to scan the page in which the very letter from the Dr C M Charles was included. It present as very legit, the letter even rejects a previous 1937 newspaper report that touted Wadlow as 8'9" as at that time when he was in fact less, being a properly verified 8'5".
We know upon Wadlow's passing in July 1940 some newspapers lagged with their info - stating only 8'9.5" for Wadlow when that height was already achieved in Feb 1940 - so it was easy to strike that out. The first mention of 8'10.3" was in newspapers upon Wadlow's passing and attributed to 27 June 1940 measurement so it seemed legit but several contributors did suggest even that measurement to have been made earlier than 27 June 1940 but I have yet to locate a source for that - again, it may be in the biography and wasn't necessarily reported as and when the date it was actually made.
Notwithstanding facts, the info printed in newspapers is circulated far more widely and takes firmer hold than anything else. As to what I now see as the newspapers error, I'm guessing perhaps a lagged update on Wadlow's height. The more legit, clinical evidence contained in the 1944 biography would've taken much longer to circulate with much reduced readership and that explains why it seemed that 8'11.1" popped up at a much later date and seemingly out of thin air. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure Guinness themselves ran incorrectly with a height of 8'9.5 (Feb 1940) in the early days before progressing to 8'10.3" (newspapers July 1940) and then finally 8'11.1" (possibly sourced from 1943 Dr C M Charles letter contained in 1944 biog and/or Wadlow's medical files).
Here's the link to thread and specifically the letter. Personally I feel this is sufficient evidence to reinstate Wadlow to 8'11.1" or 8'11.09" or 8'11.0866" to be exact. It presents as a primary and legitimate medical source (not newspaper).

Click Here PS - you have to open the scan in a new window to see the full letter.


Any, as always, ultimately your call Rob.

Tall In The Saddle said on 21/Mar/18
Nippu said on 21/Mar/18
I think if we would use corrected height and lying down height Wadlow would hit easily 9ft mark. 9´2 i think could be his top height? But my opinnion person is that tall as he can stand. Everybody lose height during a day or because of aging. Carroll case i don´t never buy but i think Kosen is also standig 7´10-7´11 tall naturally. He can strech him up to 8ft but i think he can never stand barefooted 8´3. Still he is tallest man in the world. Brahim is most likely 2nd tallest. But for my opinion Myllyrinne was bit taller and way bigger than Kosen. And Myllyrinne´s hands really was top 3 of the world Click Here Btw. Rob. I only accept 3 choices for u. 1. U add Myllyrinne here 2. U don´t 3. U maybe add him? What is your answer?

I'll put my VOTE up for Myllrinne being added.:).
Plenty of evidential pics to attach and I understand there is a documentary out there of reasonable duration. In my book, at a reasonably est. 8'3" (officially measured 8'1.5" at age 53 yo one prior to passing), Myllyrinne is number 2. To actually stand right on 8 feet is extremely rare. Wadlow standing height of at least 10.3" above 8 feet might imply the likelihood of a reasonable number of other indiv fitting in somewhere between 8 ft and Wadlow's own 8'10.3" but I don't think it's the case. Wadlow's standing height, so well above 8 feet and so close to 9 feet, was something beyond rare even - a literal one off with no one close. Without Wadlow, how many indiv do we actually have who stood 8 feet or above without height correction?

Nippu said on 21/Mar/18
I think if we would use corrected height and lying down height Wadlow would hit easily 9ft mark. 9´2 i think could be his top height? But my opinnion person is that tall as he can stand. Everybody lose height during a day or because of aging. Carroll case i don´t never buy but i think Kosen is also standig 7´10-7´11 tall naturally. He can strech him up to 8ft but i think he can never stand barefooted 8´3. Still he is tallest man in the world. Brahim is most likely 2nd tallest. But for my opinion Myllyrinne was bit taller and way bigger than Kosen. And Myllyrinne´s hands really was top 3 of the world Click Here Btw. Rob. I only accept 3 choices for u. 1. U add Myllyrinne here 2. U don´t 3. U maybe add him? What is your answer?

Tall In The Saddle said on 19/Mar/18
Hey Nippu - I've never read that Wadlow was ever afforded corrected height but there are some who suggest that Robert was starting to stoop a bit toward the latter stages of his life.

If they're like me, I think one of the difficulties people have with the withdrawal of 8'11.1" is because that figure is iconic -presenting itself like an inalterable, indelible mathematical answer to the question of the tallest height ever reached. Kind of like accepting and never forgetting 3.14159 as the numeric expression for Pi- they better not come along and change that! . It just is and will stay as is. If Wadlow was only ever listed at 8'10.3" from the get go (a neglible .8" less) we would've accepted that height with similar awe and retention.
Still, I don't think 8'11.1" was ripped out of anyone's butt - in my mind, it simply has to have a legit source. I located an Alton newspaper online referencing 8'11.1" at least as early as 1965 so it's been out there for 50 + years.

Nippu said on 18/Mar/18
Hi Tall In the Saddle. Most of my information is from Kalervo Myllyrinne who is Vaino´s nephew and lived same household with him. But i also has managed to find some(or a lot) information that even Kalervo did not knew. It is easy because i live very same area there Vaino Lived most of his life and Lot of places still exist where Vaino has been photographed. So it is quite easy to fit him around 250cm tall. I guess In Robert´s and Vaino´s time they did not use corrected height? Or lying down height. And yes Vaino did lose some standing height because of rheumatism. But not much. He did stand tall all his life. And my grandfather knew Vaino. I did heard lot of stories about Vaino when i was a kid. And have met lot of other people who have met Vaino. Also Doctor who treated him. Same doctor operate my knee in 90´s =)

viper said on 17/Mar/18
The 8-11.1 could be total crap like the 6-4.3 for Shawne Merriman.

BUT being in the Guinness world record book could give it some validity.

Tall In The Saddle said on 17/Mar/18
Mimi - I agree. Tallest ever and tallest by far. Straight and true. I think Rob is actually protecting the veracity of that title by listing the most substantively reported height as we know it - a none too shabby 8'10.3" but I would bet a lot that there is validity to the 8'11.1' listing - it's just locating the primary source. TBH I haven't seen any primary source for any of Wadlow's heights (viz medical reports) it was all relayed via the newspapers.

Interestingly, 8'3" Vaino Myllyrinne was said to hold the title of tallest man after Wadlow's passing in 1940 but even then Vaino would not have reached his full height. He passed in 1963, some reports suggest he held the title until his passing while others suggest he lost the title as some point to John F Carroll of Buffalo - see link where Carroll's true height his analysed.

Click Here

I personally am not entirely in agreement with this methodology of calculating "height" - at best Carroll was said to have stood about 8 feet but severe curvature of the spine saw him never actually stand taller than that - rather, the curvature was taken into account and his height was projected for his actually being able to stand straight - that projection being 8'7.75". I think that's part of the wonder and achievement of the world's tallest man - that a human body not only grow so long but also be able to still stand reasonably erect (="tall"). No disrespect to Mr Carroll who it seems had the worst of it even as giant go - actually a curse on the human body. He deserves some sort of title for that.

Mimi said on 12/Mar/18
Whether he is 8ft10 or 8ft11 it doesn't really matter because he was the tallest person ever recorded. He was really really giraffesque in height. I've read that he was already 5ft10 at age 5. That's insane and sad at the same time cause he never felt like a kid because he was already an adult heightwise

Shivam said on 10/Mar/18
All the people who are saying the Robert was not 8'11 that is just a question for you all. You mean that all you are right with your inaccurate guesses and the person who measured wadlow was a fool? So his height is mentioned as tallest height of a living being and has been recorded by guiness

Danimal said on 10/Mar/18
That article which states he was 8'10 3/10" has him weighing 495 pounds, yet a few months later he was apparently down to 439 pounds or so before his death, which was when his official 8'11.1" listing was made. Are you aware of this Rob?

Shivam said on 8/Mar/18
I would say that he was nearly 9 ft or 8'11

Tall In The Saddle said on 6/Mar/18
Hey Rob - don't know if you're aware of this dude - Väinö Myllyrinne from Finland. I only read about him in recent years. He topped out at 8'3" - he was also measured by doctors just 1 year prior to his death indicating a slightly reduced height of 8'1.5". Apparently he had two growth phases, one which saw him reach 7 feet 4" at age 21 but then a second growth phase that saw him grow until his late 30s! It is also claimed that he had the largest hand size known at 13.4". There's a few pics you can call up on him.
I've linked the only footage I've been able to find on him - it's short but in sweet HD. Filmed in 1935 which would've made him just 26 yo and yet to reach his full stature but he still looks huge.
Link - Click Here (note the video title suggests a height of 8'2" but as far as I've read 8'3" has been more widely reported).

Tall In The Saddle said on 28/Feb/18
Rob - "If Wadlow were alive today, he'd have been absolutely mobbed anywhere he went, far more than he was in that era. But on the medicine side, he may well have lived a much longer life..."

Too true Rob.

In random address, without truly jumping into Robert's giant shoes, we can marvel from the outside at his height. However, as Wadlow himself said on a few occasions, a normal size and life in tow would've been much more preferable. I suspect that if there weren't medical records, photographs and footage as irrefutable evidence we would probably figure that his height was a wild exaggeration - but there it is - unbelievable yet true.

5'12 said on 3/Feb/18
Robert Wadlow was never 8’11” ?
This is a bit like finding out santa’s Not real... 😂😂😂😂
Is there any explanation for the 8’11.1” listing?

Tall In The Saddle said on 3/Feb/18
Hi Rob - Gotcha. I didn't realise you went to 1/8ths!
The new system gives Wadlow a huge upgrade of .075"! That much closer to the orig. celebrated height of 8'11.1". Lol. Thanks again for a great site - best resource for heights on the net.

Tall In The Saddle said on 27/Jan/18
Have to be careful here.

Upon death, Wadlow's height was reported to be 8'10.3" in several newspapers and that figure was identified as being the last measurement that was made on 27 June 1940. The figure 8'11.1" was not mentioned at all.
Not sure why a figure of 8'10 and 3/8" (= 8'10.375") is now being listed - I never saw that figure before.
After Robert's death, Guinness first listed Wadlow at 8'9.5" - an obviously old measurement that was actually made on Robert's 22nd birthday in Feb1940 but was erroneously reported as Robert's final height in a few newspapers upon his death - those newspapers obviously were not up to speed with the 27 June 1940 measurement.
Guinness later upgraded Wadlow's height to 8'10.3" in one of their later 1950s editions - obviously sourced from the 27 June measurement - mainly reported as Robert's FINAL measure just prior to his death.
Later again, Guinness ultimately upgraded Wadlow to the now long held height of 8'11.1" but the source of that measurement is a mystery - there is suggestion that it was contained in letter sent by Dr C M Charles to Wadlow's father in 1943.
As far as I've read, the 8'11.1" figure was first quoted in a medical journal and a local Alton paper in the mid 1960s. Guinness perhaps picked up that height at the same time and held it ever since.
For what it's worth and somewhat surprising at least to me - when the physicians measured Wadlow they actually measured him in cms, not feet and inches. Based upon the metric cm measurement, Wadlow's height was then converted to imperial feet and inches.
As far as I know Wadlow was only measured twice in 1940 - first was on his birthday in Feb 1940 as he was traditionally measured on his birthdays at the least. The 27 June 1940 was made when Wadlow had a new leg brace fitted - the one that caused the fatal infection shortly thereafter. I guess if not for the need of a new leg brace they wouldn't have necessarily bothered to measured Wadlow at that time.
I can't see how height and measurement dates have been confused. However, I can see the possibility of a conversion error from cm to feet and inches - an error that was perhaps later rectified.
8'11.1" is very exact and doesn't suggest exaggeration or invention otherwise why not inflate by another .9" for the magic 9 ft mark? No, I believe the 8'11.1" is legit but a solid source is required and must be out there.
My other guess would be that even though Wadlow's family would've forbid it, surely the physicians couldn't help themselves but make one final measurement upon Robert's death - he was a human wonder of the world after all and his progressive height had been exactly recorded for a good number of years. Also, for practical purposes, I would guess that they might've had to have measured Robert's overall dimensions for the custom casket.
If a height of 8'11.1" was in fact yielded upon Wadlow's death it would help to explain how an extra .8" in just a few weeks might be "gained" (measured in prone position) and why it took that figure several decades before it eventually found its way into broader publication.

Chaz said on 23/Jan/18
There is a mix up here,the 8'10 3/8'',was not the the 27th of June measurement it's the measurement taken 6 months befor.and it was not taken by he's physician,he was measured by Professer C.M Charles and Dr Cyril MacBryde,head and dept head of Anatomy at the Washington University school of Medicine,he was fully Anthropometrically assessed by the two Drs,this was done only 18 days befor he died,on the 15th of July,I think the mix up comes because these last meauserments were not made public untill months after he died,and news reports at the times of he's death were giving the the 8'10 3/8''meauserment as he's height,not the last 8'11.1'',one.

mrtguy said on 5/Jan/18
Rob, if your to say Big Show or Wadlow has(d) a bigger head who would be the winner??

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 30/Dec/17
Rob surely that 8ft11.1 was probably more likely at the end?



He was still growing when he died...

Harry said on 27/Dec/17
Apparently he was 6 ft at the age of 9 and at 10 could carry his dad up the stairs and down.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 22/Nov/17
6ft11 at 11!

MIncer said on 30/Oct/17
So the Guinness Records was wrong?

Tall In The Saddle said on 25/Oct/17
I agree with Junior. Though much too brief, Robert Wadlow lived as full a life as was possible. However, it was wrought with increasing physical limitations and ill health. The title of world's tallest man is only of value to those who behold him for that title only, certainly that title was of little value to the man himself who (as quoted) wished that his younger brother would not be similarly afflicted as his brother would then "have more fun" (than Robert did).

The only value of World's Tallest man to Robert was to be able to tour, display himself and earn money in order to mitigate the numerous real life downsides of actually being that tall. A vicious circle really.

An acute, in-abating abnormality caused this height thus humans are, at least for a long time forward(as we do appear to be getting genetically bigger but no as much as people assume - it's relatively slight), are not meant to be that tall - internal organs, circuitry, etc. are not similarly sized up and therefore put under enormous and increasing strain as age/height increases.

Also, going back years, people weren't so much genetically smaller as they were "stunted" in their growth. Meaning, much of the genetic potential we possess today they also had - they simply weren't availed of the same nutrition and DIY body improvements we have today. The nutrition I speak of includes that which the parents were availed of in support of the growth of their offspring from conception to birth let alone the direct nutrition following birth.

One thing bemuses me. I would figure that Mr Wadlow would change dress each day as we all do. He didn't have feeling in his legs but I also figure that a visual inspection of feet, legs, brace etc. might necessarily be performed on a daily basis - particularly since Robert had experienced infections and issues with his legs previously and a new brace was recently fitted after all.

If that were the case I'm not sure how such a infection was allowed to take hold - surely it didn't irritate and an infection set in in just one day. Also, given his issues, such an arduous tour as Wadlow undertook at the time was always going to be perilous - though I understand perhaps it was always necessary to get out there and earn the money to support his unique needs - I dunno.

I don't know if it was on the last tour but I read that one time, on tour, a table upon which Wadlow sat collapsed under his weight causing him to fall onto the platform. After that, he apparently got to one knee and jokingly addressed the onlookers. It didn't state any injuries but who knows, at a top of 491 lbs and increasingly vulnerable skeletal frame the potential damage is always there.

Junior said on 24/Oct/17
@Bennett

That would be terrible to had another near 9 footer or maybe a record breaker of 9'0 giant and a big fuse of problem is that could the person live health and long enough to tour the world for holding Guinness Record? It's the big question and pardon that Wadlow died young at age 22.

Bennett said on 21/Oct/17
I had a feeling that would soon to have a new record holder for the next Wadlow. Miracle happens in this universe all the time, we don't aspect a tiny human form suddenly had a huge growth spurt hitting 9 foot tall in few years but if Robert Wadlow could grow to his late 8ft10.3 that will certainly had someone who will reached the 270cm mark its a matter of time. When?

Tall In The Saddle said on 20/Oct/17
Rob - Just one last post on this for now.
Wadlow was religiously measured since his first visit to Barnes hospital in 1930 - as part of an express and dedicated case study as initiated and permitted by Harold Wadlow. Robert was clearly still growing right up until his passing. Despite being measured just 18 days prior to his passing, I would think that they couldn't help but make one final post mortem measurement for posterity (as has been done in other extreme height cases including that of John Rogan whose height had to be projected after allowance for curvature and inability to actually stand).
I know the family weren't permitting examination of the body but perhaps a final measurement was allowable at the least or, at worst, made without their knowledge at the time - also perhaps final measurements were required any way for transportation and casket dimensions (length, width and depth).
Taking either 8'9.25" or 8'9.5" as at Feb40, between Feb40 and Jun40 there was an apparent height gain of either .8" or 1.06" over 4 months. Even over just 18 days (tho his acute physical impairment during those 18 days conceivably halted further growth) you could extrapolate a further average growth of either .12" or .16". Combine that with a measurement that would've been equivalent to max. morning height - a final full body length measurement of 8'11.1" is not out of the question. Given the title of "Tallest Ever" I think it would be apt to take the max. standing height or equivalent to - as it literally would be the tallest any man ever stood - albeit only for an hour or two of any given day.
If it was in fact a post mortem measurement that would help explain why it wasn't in the papers at the time, why it was only conveyed in a letter to Harold Wadlow in 1943 and why it took some time before it became widely circulated. This is all just guess work of course and the jury is still out on this one.

Tall In The Saddle said on 17/Oct/17
Rob - Yes, I too used to think that Wadlow was older - some later photographs made him look so (particularly a famous courtroom shot), probably due to spectacles, progressive loss of weight and mounting physical complaints. If I had the chance I would have made the effort to see the man - not at all to view him as an oddity or freak, simply to view a literal human wonder of the world.

I applaud your revising his height to 8'10.3" - its a tough but very just call based on the current evidence at hand. Mind you, the evidence has rarely been in the form of actual source medical data anyway - earlier in Robert's life there is direct data that can be viewed but later it seems we simply have to rely on and believe what the newspapers reported - even though the papers state that is has been sourced from the medical files or by way of physicians advice.

I'm curious as to what evidence you might deem as acceptable in support of 8'11.1"? That in itself isn't an easy call.

Re Guinness (GWR)it's true that the veracity of a number of their listings across many categories have been more than questionable over the years due to lack of due verification and there have been later retractions.

However, with Wadlow I personally cut Guinness (at least the older version) some slack. At least 2 heights listed by Guinness - first 8'9.5" (1955 edition) and later 8'10.3" (1958 edition) were sourced from measurements that were widely reported as medically authentic in newspapers as at the time. Guinness erred listing 8'9.5" as the final height in their first edition but then they did later amend it to 8'10.3" as per the last height reported by several newspapers upon Wadlow's passing.

Certainly these heights weren't arbitrarily invented and a better informed Guinness did correctly amend their records. If that was the trend, then I suspect that Guinness later drew 8'11.1" from a source they considered legit and therefore felt justified to amend their records yet again - I don't know exactly when Guinness changed to and settled on 8'11.1" - I can say that it has been listed by GWR at least as far back as 1973.

However, in respect of any publication, I can say that 8'11.1" at least saw the first light of day in a 1965 edition of the Alton Evening Telegraph - but that doesn't rule out possible earlier references. The height of 8'11" (without the .1") was also quoted in no less than the May 1968 Barnes Hospital Bulletin - where Wadlow was in fact measured at least earlier in his life.

While apparently not widely circulated (not in contemporary newspapers anyway), I believe there is a root source for this height somewhere - perhaps from the medical files which surely have been preserved.

There is also the alleged letter written by Dr C M Charles to Harold Waldlow in 1943 - which first expresses Wadlow's height in metric 2720 mm (the units by which he was actually measured) then converted to 107.866 inches and then to 8'11.866".

When I first read that Wadlow was measured in mm/cm I had my doubts - this was back in the 30/40s so I figured it would've been imperial - inches and feet. But no, there are excerpts from several medical publications of the day which prove that they did in fact use the metric system even way back then.

So the only go tos I can think of are the actual medical files or the biography Gentleman Giant pub. 1944 authored by Frederick Fadner with assistance from Harold Wadlow - since it was published post 1943 this book may contain an extract or details of the alleged letter from Dr C M Charles to Harold Wadlow in Jan 1943. I am currently looking for a possible free electronic download of the book but no luck so far.

One fun anecdote re challenge to grab silver dollar atop Wadlow's head - it is alleged one guy actually succeeded, dude was 6'8" from the local basketball team and he got on his absolute tippy toes to do it - can't estimate what an average upward reach for someone that tall would be.

It's crazy, there's just .8" in it but it's bugging me. Lol.

Tall In The Saddle said on 15/Oct/17
Rob - I have since ascertained that the colour footage I linked was uploaded by a poster from TheTallestMan site. Background - he purchased the film from a collector some 15 years ago but the source of the footage prior to that is unknown, poster guesses it was filmed about 1939.

Here's another clip at Plainview with a few seconds of colour at the start - it appears an onlooker is attempting the standard challenge to reach a silver dollar placed on the top of Robert's head. Wadlow visited Plainview on July 26 1939.

Link - Click Here

Here's another link describing Wadlow's visit to Plainview with a picture (with father) that was taken at that time - Wadlow's height was described as 8'9" at this time.

Just one more link to an article describing Wadlow's visit to Warrensburg on May 10 1940 with last measurement as at that time (which we know to have been made Feb 1940) described as 8'9.5" - a scan of newspaper describing the visit is also included.

Tall In The Saddle said on 11/Oct/17
I posted a few Youtube links just recently, particularly to highlight newly uploaded and extremely rare colour footage of Robert Wadlow on tour which I had never seen before - less than a minutes worth but it is gold - Wadlow's height conveyed in the footage is awe inspring though due allowance might be made for a "smaller" society back then. If the post doesn't come through I will resubmit.

I checked on historic editions of the Alton Evening Telegraph to try get some clue as to the origin and first publishing of the 8'11.1" figure. Not a lot to report but can say a July 1962 retrospective article cited Wadlow's height to be the newspaper published 8'10.3" while just 3 years later a July 1965 retrospective article stated Robert's height to be 8'11.1". Link Click Here
So the 8'11.1" fig has been around for at least 52 years and some 25 years after Robert's passing.

At the time of the 1965 article Wadlow's father Harold was still living age 72 yo. The article states that Harold collaborated with a Shurtleff College Professor in 1941 to write the biography The Gentleman Giant. The first edition of this book was published in 1944. It would be interesting to read the ultimate height/source quoted in this book - and any possible mention of a letter from Dr C M Charles re Wadlow's final height.

Tall In The Saddle said on 10/Oct/17
As luck would have it a very recent new and rare clip of Robert Wadlow has been uploaded to YouTube and in colour!

Click Here

Some more rare footage only uploaded in May of this year:-

Click Here

This clip begins in 1930 when Robert was 12 yo - he states that he is about 7 feet tall - this correlates with height charts that put him at 6'11" at 12 you, In the latter part of this clip (1934) you can see Wadlow is clearly not an entirely happy young man (kid, really) - not with the increasing physical ailments nor with the gawking attention - he should've swatted the overly curious brat behind him -looked like he was close to doing it.

One last clip that was uploaded to YouTube back in 2014 that I somehow missed - includes a nice introduction by the father Harold to the whole family. The father states that Robert is 15 you and already standing at 7 feet 10 inches - most height charts attribute this height to Robert at 16 and he may've been close to 16 when the footage was taken.

Click Here

Tall In The Saddle said on 8/Oct/17
I submitted a post which didn't make it to the forum.

Anyway, just wanted to add a few things. It seemed Robert was ritually measured on or near enough to each successive birthday (see Feb 1940 - for Wadlow's last birthday measurement coming in at either 8'9.25" or 8'9.5"). The new leg brace which ultimately proved faulty was fitted on 27 June 1940 coinciding with the last known date Robert was measured - that measurement being either a necessary part of the process and/or simply an opportunity for a "tweeny" measurement. Of course, Robert became ill via infection just 7 days later, passing away just 11 days later again - 15 July 1940.

I have read just one article stating that both Wadlow's legs were amputated in the effort to save his life - I've also read that there were several reports stating same but that they were false and duly quashed as at the time.

Based on reasonably solid and more widely reported source evidence, 8'10.3" is a fair and just call with equally fair reserve being held that further evidence may be obtained to properly support the ultimate 8'11.1" iconic listing which, in my mind, is simply too arbitrary and non advantageous to have been plucked out of the air . A scant .8" difference is all that separates the 2 heights and that .8" difference is coincidentally equal to 22 yo Wadlow's none too shabby growth from Feb 1940 (taking 8'9.5") to June 1940 (taking 8'10.3") over a 4 month period.

I'm pretty sure Guinness progressively listed Wadlow at 8'9.5", 8'10.3" and before ultimately firming at 8'11.1" which appears at least as early as the 1976 Guinness edition that I have. Guinness was definitely wrong with the first listing (yet still sourced from an actual measurement), the 2nd listing is in line with multiple contemporary newspaper sources matched with the date 27 June 1940 but as far I have read, the final listing has only been attributed to a 1943 letter from Wadlow's physician to Wadlow's father Harold - height exactly expressed as 272 cm converted to 8'11.0866 imperial - 8'11.1" being an ever so slight round up.

As to measurements being made in shoes - there are several photos that imply Wadlow being measured fully dressed and in shoes - perhaps just for the sake of a publicity shot. I was fortunate to recently see a rare pic of Wadlow sitting on a chair in just boxer shorts, bare feet clearly being examined by physicians - so perhaps his medically recorded heights were properly made in bare feet and shoes, and if not always possible without shoes, due deduction made for shoe heel - I've read 8'11.1" bare feet and just over 9 feet in shoes.

To really appreciate Wadlow's final height at least visually, you have to see the photos in the very last months/weeks of Wadlow's life - an acutely tall human throughout but steadily approaching a truly scary height just before his passing and without any substantiation, I would've bought his being 9 Ft in a heart beat - insane.

Tall In The Saddle said on 2/Oct/17
There is an excellent site called TheTallestMan.com. which contains a lot of info on so called Giants (Thresholds for same being 7'2" and over for men and 6'10" and over for women), Robert Wadlow of course being the primary and most celebrated inclusion. The contributors are very well informed and credible posters.

I read through several threads contained in the above site and in one thread a particular poster stated that physician Dr C M Charles (who had measured Wadlow periodically over a number of years) had written a letter to Robert's father in 1943 (not sure why it was 3 years after Robert's passing) stating Robert's final height to be 272 cm - interestingly the measurement was apparently originally expressed in cm which actually converts to 107.0866 inches to be exact which is certainly 8'11" but not quite 8'11'.1 but near enough to.

Now it would seem that Robert's final recorded height of 8'11.1" (as converted from an originally expressed 272 cm) was sourced from this letter - not sure if the letter was provided as evidence or if Robert's father verbally relayed the final figure. Guinness didn't in fact always list Robert at 8'11.1", earlier editions listed him at 8'9.25" or 8'9.5" which was obviously sourced from the Feb 1940 measurement so Guinness at the time wasn't even up to speed with the later 27 June 1940 measurement of 8'10.3" - the latter height also being listed by Guinness at some later stage. At some point Guinness ultimately changed the figure to 8'11.1" and that has held ever since.

I agree with Slothee - I see no motive to exaggerate Wadlow's height for the reasons already stated. I'll add, if inclined to exaggerate, the magic number they would've aspired to would be 274.32 cm or 9 feet, not pull up at just 272 cm or 8'11.1", just shy of 9 feet. On reflection, I'm not so sure that Wadlow could've been measured post mortem because both Wadlow and his family made it clear that Robert's remains would never been given up to medical science in any way shape or form for further examination so I'm guessing the only measurements made were while Robert was still alive - but a post mortem measurement isn't impossible.

So, we have Wadlow's last reported measurement being made on 27 June 1940 with several newspapers reporting that measurement to have yielded a height of 8'10.3" and I think (not sure) Guinness also ran with this measurement for a time. Then we have Guinness' upgrade to 8'11.1" at some point and a letter claimed to have been written by Dr C M Charles given to Robert's father in 1943 stating a final height of 272 cm.

I can't say for sure but logic tells me there is likely substance to the 272 cm measurement which may well have come from the abovementioned letter - a copy/orig of which may or may not have been submitted to Guinness some years after the fact or, at the least, Robert's father found cause to relay the final measurement as he knew it to Guinness to set the record straight. I've also read guesstimates that the extra .8" may've accounted for some curvature which didn't comprise Robert's final standing height - though I must say that from the photos Wadlow didn't appear to exhibit any noticeable curvature but if it did in fact only account for .8" then the curvature would've been very slight and barely perceptible.

Also, as another explanation, possibly a typo or misread error along the way, mistaking 272 cm for 270 cm leading to a conversion from the latter figure to 8'10.3".

Now if Guinness or the Wadlow family descendants still hold this alleged letter and it could be produced.........that would be very interesting.

Slothee said on 30/Sep/17
This seems odd.. I always thought he reached 8'11". Although he was listed in articles as standing 8'10 3/10", I wonder why Guinness decided to bump him up to 8'11 1/10"? There's got to be an explanation, and I don't think it was simply a couple guys at Guinness World Records being like "Hey, you know what'd be funny? Is if we just added 8/10 of an inch to his height". He was already the tallest man to walk the earth, there'd be no real motive to exaggerate his height. And even if there were, it would be unlikely for Guinness World Records to allow for such an exaggeration without evidence. Despite what I just said, I've looked everywhere online and all the sources that put him at 8'11" all link back to Guinness World Records. So if Guinness were wrong, everyone citing them would be wrong as well. What would really clear things up is if Guinness cited references to show how and why certain world records are held (such as Wadlow's height), but I doubt that'll happen. I'm honestly not sure what to believe on Robert's height.

Tall In The Saddle said on 14/Aug/17
In terms of both his incredible height and the incredible human being that he was, I have been absolutely fascinated by this man ever since I first read of him in the Guinness Book of World Records and then in a book titled Very Special People (highly recommended) bought for me so long ago by my very special Mum.
I have never refuted Robert's last recorded height of 8'11.1" nor am I refuting it now. I'll admit, if there was actual evidence to prove Wadlow's height to be a bit less than an exact 8'11.1", emotionally, it might be a bit difficult to accept - it's the iconic benchmark, a seemingly mythical yet somehow real human height, set in stone and there are photos to prove that no man has even come close to Robert's height - even the formidable 8'3" Sultan Kosen pales in comparison standing by the life size figure of Wadlow. Happily, I can say that in all objectivity, I don't actually have to refute Robert's height - it's for real.
However, perhaps qualification of when Robert's final height of 8'11.1" was exactly determined is required.
By most accounts, the last measurement of Robert's height while he was still alive was made on 27 June 1940 and sadly, Robert passed away just 18 days later on 15 July 1940. The natural assumption is that this last measurement yielded a height of 8'11.1" and most modern day articles suggest this to be the case.
However, several contemporary articles printed upon Robert's death stated that Robert's height recorded as at 27 June 1940 was in fact 8'10.3". Based on upon this, this is the final height these articles afforded Robert in their obits - but, bare in mind, the articles were printed exactly upon Robert's death on 15 July 1940, likely prior to any possible post mortem recording and publishing of Robert's absolute final height.
There are several other obit. articles that "only" afforded Robert a height of 8'9.5" upon his death - but those articles were clearly referencing a height afforded to Robert back in Feb 1940 (about 5 months prior to Robert's death) by the shoe company he promoted - and it's likely the shoe company was drawing on a medically verified height as at that time.
So, as I interpret it, Robert's final living recorded height measurement was 8'10.3 as at 27 June 1940, an increase of .8" from Robert's last recorded measurement of 8'9.5" some 4 months prior back in Feb 1940 (upon turning age 22). If one wanted to "average" it, one might guess that Robert would see about 2.4" increase in height over the course of his 23rd year. Generally speaking, the rate of Wadlow's growth had slowed a bit in later years but there was still no accounting for exactly how much Robert could grow in any given year and when his growth was greatest at any period during any given year.
If Robert's final height of 8'11.1" was in fact recorded upon his death on 15 July 1940, that would mean an apparent height gain of .8" from the measurement of 8'10.3" made just some 2 1/2 weeks prior (on 27 June 1940). The most recent trend for Robert's growth prior to that (from Feb to Jun 1940) reflected the same amount of growth of .8" over 4 months. Could Robert have achieved the same amount of growth of .8" in just the last 2 1/2 weeks of his life? It's possible, because Wadlow did experience literal spurts at different times.
My ultimate conclusion may be that Robert's last living recorded height was in fact 8'10.3" as at 27 June 1940 and his post mortem height as at or near enough to 15 July 1940 was again, a properly medically verified 8'11.1". Robert may well have gained an extra .8" in height in those final weeks ("impossible" is hardly a word that can be applied to one Robert Pershing Wadlow). Otherwise, Robert's final apparent height gain to reach 8'11.1" was possible a combination of both actual further growth and Robert's final measurement being under conditions which allowed for the absolute maximum measurement of Robert's height (sadly achieved post mortem).
To be clear, I don't doubt at all that Wadlow was ultimately medically verified to be a true 8'11.1" in height, and could've been measured in ideal living circumstances to be that height - but I would be interested to read contemporary documentation confirming exactly when the measurement was medically verified.

Eric said on 10/Aug/17
He may be 9 ft (273 cm) in the morning

Tyson said on 5/Aug/17
Two feet taller than Andre The Giant

even said on 20/Jul/17
if there is ( was ) one guy on earth that people could not argue about his height it would be Robert Pershing Wadlow the tallest person ever in human recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence , at the time of his death he was 8'11" or 272 cm tall , please just stop wasting your time arguing , you can't change the reality , please be reasonable , god bless you all .

mrtguy said on 17/Jul/17
Rob, how tall would you say the shorter guy appears to be next to Wadlow?? Click Here

Earnst said on 30/Jun/17
During the 60s/70s I heard of a Mrs Patel who may have lived in either London or possibly Birmingham. She was supposedly extremely tall but other than that I cannot be more specific. Does anyone else know anything of her?

mrtguy said on 11/Jun/17
Rob, is it very true that taller people who are 7ft taller with size (12-13) inch head have shorter shoulder length deviations??

Matt said on 9/Jun/17
Nah he wore every days elevator shoes! Hahahah The old Don's with 2 feet insole. Am I right Rob? Ahahaha

Bard said on 2/Jun/17
Yeah, no doubt, Wadlow's height could easily fluctuate 2 inches if not more every day.

Stadnyk gave away his lie by refusing to be measured. His reason was even worse: he didn't want the attention. Lol, if he didn't want the attention, why would he exaggerate his height so much in the first place and pretend that he was the tallest man alive?

Canson said on 1/Jun/17
No question he was 9'0-9'0.5 waking up

Alfred said on 1/Jun/17
Leonid Stadnyk was certainly not 8'5", he was around 7'7-9". I am confounded how readily the public accepted Stadnyk's Spurious assertion of being 8'5" without proper validation!
There are innumerable 7 footers (Stadnyk was one of em) but a scant few legit 8 footers throughout history. John Rogan is another dubious claim

Alfred said on 31/May/17
Robert Wadlow almost certainly exceeded 9' at time of death, the 8'11.1" measurements were taken 3 months before Wadlow's death and were BAREFOOT measurements! Wadlow would have been 9 ft barefoot and 9'2" in size 37 sneakers.

Bard said on 31/May/17
The only 9 footer in recorded history, and even if he wasn't quite the mark barefoot he's definitely close enough.

Logan said on 29/May/17
They guy is 8,11.5 maybe 8,11.75

curious alladin said on 16/May/17
Hi editor Rob

Do you think there's a possibility that he could've grow to around 3 metre (around 10 feet tall) had he lived a few years longer ?? I have visited the medical school in Washington University of st. Louis and had a chance to talk to the doctor of endocrinology. When I asked what's the highest absolute height a human can attain he just said there's none and judging from his growth rate near the end of his life he couldve reached anywhere from 2.9m (9 feet 6 inches) to 3m (10 feet) had he survived a few years more. I think 10 feet is definitely within the limitation as to how much our body can physically sustain what do you think ??

184-182 said on 8/May/17
Hey Rob, how tall do you believe Robert Wadlow would have been if he had lived into his 50's or 60's? Do you think he would have stopped growing at some point?

mrtguy said on 28/Apr/17
Rob, you think Tomas Pustina tied with Andre ever had the biggest head in mankind bigger than Wadlows??

Canson said on 24/Apr/17
9'0-9'1 out of bed
8'11 legit guy as listed

Kole Schilling said on 22/Apr/17
Rob, do you think that Robert Wadlow could have been nine feet tall on a good day

Alain said on 18/Apr/17
Rob, would Robert Wadlow have been 9ft tall right out of bed?
Also can you do a page for Keever Trijntje (255 cm according to various sources), the tallest women ever...?

Christian said on 15/Apr/17
Measurement was wrong, he was definitely 9ft.

Nik said on 15/Apr/17
@Editor Rob

Rob, where would you have come up to on Robert Wadlow?

oliver said on 8/Apr/17
Rob, one question,please. Maybe I'm too curious. Do you think there might be someone else taller before his time(not described in the records)? This is a stupid question that no one can know. But I just want your opinion.

Nik said on 8/Apr/17
@Editor Rob

Rob, What would your guess be on on Robert Wadlow's out of bed height? Was it definitely over 8'11"?

oliver said on 7/Apr/17
Hello,Rob. I live in Asia and I've never seen giant people in my life. The tallest man I've ever seen is about 6'5 and woman,6'1. How tall are the ones you've seen?

mrtguy said on 4/Apr/17
Rob, Giant Leonid certainly wasn't 8 ft plus, but you think his head is at least 12'' it looks bigger than those of Kosen??

Ian C said on 3/Apr/17
An interesting question: Would you rather be a giant (over seven feet) or a dwarf (under 4 feet)? Or, what is the minimum height you would refuse in favour of being a dwarf? If you were eight feet tall and could walk, you'd have to be pretty tough to go out in public, because people would recoil from you in fear. But if you were a dwarf and could walk, you'd just charm children.

On a more moderate level, wouldn't it be better to be Danny DeVito (slightly less than five feet) than Richard Kiel (just over seven feet, and with an unusually ugly face)?

I also wonder how many people would be some other height than the height they are, if given the choice. I'm tall and quite a few short guys have told me they wished they were too. I've never had a tall guy tell me he wished he were shorter, but then I've met very few people who were over six foot four, which is still fairly normal. The tallest man I've ever met in the flesh was six foot eight, and he was young, strong and athletic, and he wasn't complaining. I've met only two women who were over six feet, and I suspect they were a little unhappy about it.

mrtguy said on 2/Apr/17
Rob, what do you think was the true height of Leonid Stadnyk??

Canson said on 29/Mar/17
I meant out of bed over 9'0"

Canson said on 28/Mar/17
He's easily 9'

Sally (5'11 said on 26/Mar/17
I am reconsidering my previous comment where I stated the average man in central Wisconsin is 5'11"-6'. 5'10"-5'11" seems like a more realistic average for men under the age of 50; but when older men are included, I would estimate the average would be closer to 5'9".

Sally (5'11 said on 25/Mar/17
@ Robert Broome- What do you think the average male height is in Charlotte, NC? You mentioned that there are a handful of men in your building that are 7'. If that is true, my 6'8" son would feel short for the first time in his life. The average man where we live in central Wisconsin is approximately 5'11"-6'.

Mimi said on 24/Mar/17
I've read that he's 5'10 at the age of 5. That's just really baffling.

69 inches said on 21/Mar/17
Judging from the picture I think he might fit in the 8ft11.5 to 11.75 range rather than 8ft11 flat.Strong possibility for over 9 feet then waking up.

Ted said on 17/Mar/17
I remember this gigantic pretty blonde lady at the Wham farewell party at the Hippodrome Disco in London about 85 or 86.
She was about 6 foot 8 or taller. Dont know who it was.

aaronious said on 13/Mar/17
I love how the average guess on here has him at 8ft 11.63", even though the Guinness measured him at 8'11.1"

Erika said on 22/Feb/17
woah this is the tallest person EVER

Strong 5ft9 said on 26/Jan/17
@Marianito10 @Sarah Since Rob was 17 at the time and was measured at 8ft 3 at the time, so possibly might be 5'8" to 6'. With that height difference, it's hard to tell. but 6'5" might be pushing it.

MrFish said on 7/Jan/17
Rob, I'm actually a student at Washington University (which is in St. Louis). I'll have to see if the medical library has anything on him!

Delvin said on 24/Dec/16
How tall is the guy next to wadlow ?

Christian-196.2cm (6ft5.25) said on 7/Dec/16
Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 6/Dec/16
If he had gotten measured earlier in the day he could have hit 9ft

-----------

No doubt, especially given his extremely lenghty spine, which probably lost 2+ inches throughout the course of a day.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 6/Dec/16
If he had gotten measured earlier in the day he could have hit 9ft

Arch Stanton said on 3/Dec/16
If a 7 ft guy can lose near 2 inches of height in one day, then a 9 ft guy you'd expect even more. Out of bed he might have even been 9 ft 1 range!

Oanh said on 2/Dec/16
Rob, do you think he was 9'0 or over out of bed, and with shoes on?

Sarah said on 10/Nov/16
Is the guy next to him about 2 1/2 feet shorter, maybe 6'5" or so?

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 8/Nov/16
Rob, maybe he cleared 9ft out of bed?

Borats Chicken said on 5/Nov/16
rob, you reckon bigfoots or yetis are real?

Robert Broome said on 1/Nov/16
I regularly see a guy in Charlotte, NC named Chase Methaney that is 7'4". There are a hand full over guys in my building that are 7' and and a few that are 6'9"-6'10". They all look short compared to Chase. I can't even imagine what 8'11" looks like.

Marianito10 said on 25/Sep/16
What about the guy at the left? He must be tall I guess, obviously for human standards.

Danimal said on 24/Sep/16
Duhon said on 8/May/15
Britain's tallest man 7'7" Neil Fingleton next to a statue of Robert Click Here

haha. That's incredible! Must have made this guy feel good knowing someone else in the world was once almost a foot and a half taller than him!

Danimal said on 24/Sep/16
Rob did you ever wonder how tall he could have grown to had he not died, considering he was still growing until the very end.

That guy said on 1/May/16
@damian

he is if he wore shoes

shortpeoplearecool said on 28/Mar/16
consider him 9 foot tall, he is like a 7 foot person to a 5 foot guy to a 7 foot person if you understand what i'm saying

mrtguy said on 15/Dec/15
Rob, I've been wondering if Sultan's wife is 5'8'', I wonder how tall...let's just say his son is going to be 6'10''-7'0'' range ? can you agree Click Here

mrtguy said on 22/Nov/15
Rob, what would you say the difference between being a 7 footer and 8 footer?

M. Murdoch said on 3/Nov/15
There was a woman who lived at or near Whitley Bay, who was very large and I think had the condition acromegaly. They say she stood six feet seven and weighed 350 pounds. Having seen her a couple of times, I would say that was about right. Her feet were very large and she wore shoes that must have been specially made for her. Probably the largest woman I have seen in real life.Having said that, I did see a woman in Carlisle who just might have been taller, but nowhere near as big in build.

RoelC said on 17/Sep/15
gary neale said on 2/Sep/15
hi, theres a model of Robert wadlow in the uk, does anyone know where exactly?
theres pics of people stood next to the statue, near what looks like a shop entrance, when you google him. would like to take my kids for a look.
Thanks

There's a statue of Robert next to Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum in London.
Click Here

gary neale said on 2/Sep/15
hi, theres a model of Robert wadlow in the uk, does anyone know where exactly?
theres pics of people stood next to the statue, near what looks like a shop entrance, when you google him. would like to take my kids for a look.
Thanks

Bandjoe said on 24/Aug/15
I think giants like this were put in this world to put some people's egos in check, and realize height isnt everything. I dont mean that he was just a freakshow though, he seemed like a very nice guy, i watched a documentary where it said people use to walk up to him and kick his legs to make sure they are real, not very fun to be that tall at that point.

pablo77bar(184cm) said on 31/Jul/15
I really doubt that he was that tall
Maybe 8ft 10.75 sounds better so weak 8ft 11 HAHAHAHAA
*I'm kidding

Jed said on 25/Jul/15
During that hot summer in the 70s I visited Whitley Bay and saw a huge woman at the Bus Station. I am 6ft and about 200 pounds and a woman who stood behind me was much larger. A friend reckoned my head was about level with the bottom of her ears. She must have been over 300 pounds.

Adrian said on 12/Jul/15
I have heard of these giant women in UK.
1. A Woman from London area about 7 ft. Probably born late 40s/early 50s alive during late 1970s.
2. A Woman seen in Brentford area early 1980s. App 7 ft. Possibly same person as
No 1?
3. A Woman called Christine. Alive 1970s. Near or about 7 ft.
4. A Woman from North/possibly North east of England. Said to be 7ft 2 and wearing size 15 shoes. Born 1920s/30s?
5. A Woman from Gloucestershire area alive in 1990s. Thought to be at least 7 ft tall.
6. A Woman from North Wales alive in late 1960s. 6 ft 10.
7. A Woman from Scotland possibly called Lorraine. Said to be 7 ft tall. Alive in 1970s.
8. A Woman from around or near Coventry area. Born 1953 or 4. Said to be 7 ft tall and of medium build.

Oak said on 5/Jul/15
How high is a modern telephone kiosk? A good few years ago there was a woman in UK said to be 6ft11 and 245 pounds.

Gunther said on 29/Jun/15
Kep. The giant you mention may have been Henry Mullens. He had several brothers and sisters. I believe one of his brothers and a sister were very tall. It may have been him.

I once knew a guy about six feet seven and I was told his Mother was a lot taller than him. She had a special extra long reinforced bed apparently. I did see a woman in the midlands area of the Uk, who was almost as tall as a modern BT Kiosk. She probably weighed around 350 pounds.

kio said on 21/Jun/15
height: 8'11.1" (272cm) weight: 439lbs (death) (492lbs (heaviest)) hand size: 12.75" (32.4cm) foot size: 18.5" (47cm)

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 18/Jun/15
Rob, surely he'd clear 9ft at of bed?

120 said on 29/May/15
So Rob, How long do you think his skull size is?

OneNamePlease said on 13/May/15
@duhon
That man is ahead of Robert Wadlow and has a big hat on his head and too the british is ahead of Robert Wadlow

Duhon said on 10/May/15
delvin says on 9/May/15
Would a 8 feet man look short compared to him

This is how a 8'1" man would look like next to him Click Here . That man is Brahim Takioullah the 2nd tallest man in the world.

delvin said on 9/May/15
How big is his head ?

delvin said on 9/May/15
Would a 8 feet man look short compared to him

Duhon said on 8/May/15
Britain's tallest man 7'7" Neil Fingleton next to a statue of Robert Click Here

184.3cm (Night) said on 8/May/15
@RoelC

Better not tell French guy about this! He will start thinking average height in France is 7 ft .
Sultan Kosen really does stand out there doesnt he?

delvin said on 6/May/15
Did they measure his height in shoes

G said on 5/May/15
Hello Rob, I was with a friend at the supermarket and saw a huge man. My friend who is 5'11 was an inch lower your shoulder, and I got to his mouth. What do you think is the height of this great man?

RoelC said on 4/May/15
This past week there was a 'giant' event in France, that assembled some of the tallest men in the World. Here are a few pics.
Click Here
Click Here
Click Here

The shortest giant in that picture is Rob Bruintjes (who was 7'3 in his prime, but probably 7'1-7'2 today). Normally when you're over 7ft tall you're the tallest man in the room. Imagine how it feels when at that height you're the shortest guy in the room.

Sultan Kosen (tallest man alive) is of course the tallest. He was measured a little over 8ft tall on the same event. Measurement took place late in the afternoon and was performed while the person was barefoot and standing up.

Emil 182 cm said on 2/May/15
A gentle giant and true legend. He died because he did not discover an infected blister on his ankle in tim, since his sense of feeling did not function proproperly. But even if had survived that, his body would have collapsed sooner or later. There's a limit to just how much your center of gravity can stabilize.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 21/Apr/15
It's astounding that there are guys as low as 6ft3 who moan about being too tall. How do you think this guy felt everyday both physically and emotionally?

Chron540 said on 20/Apr/15
You must be proud, there is no man taller than Rob!!

Chron540 said on 20/Apr/15
Rob, how thick do you think his shoes is? It probably might depend on what shoewear he wears, considering he wears a size 37AA.

Chuckie Cheese 2 said on 24/Mar/15
9 feet 1 in his shoes , 8 ft 11-1/10 inches barefoot.His rate of growth was 2-1/2 inches a year when he died, and may have reached 9-1/2 feet, almost 3 meters tall had he survived his late twenties. He was known as a fine young man, and gentleman to his friends and family.

Bishop said on 28/Feb/15
His exact measured height was 8'11.1".

mike m said on 31/Jan/15
Madzeek he never stopped growing he was 8 ft 8 when he was 21 and was 8 ft 11.1 when he died at 22 so he still was growing he would have easily eclipsed the 9 ft mark if he would have made it another 6 months

Chuck said on 10/Jan/15
George 6' 7.5 says on 7/Jan/15
@Duhon
Shaq is 7'2 in the photo, but is 7'1

I'm sure his shoes give him an inch

George 6' 7.5 said on 7/Jan/15
@Duhon
Shaq is 7'2 in the photo, but is 7'1

Judd said on 4/Jan/15
Would be interesting to know if 8'11" is a barefeet or shoes measurement and if he had bad or good posture when measured...

I remember time ago that at GWR they measured the current tallest man of the world (he's chinese) and the measurement was really horrible: he kept shoes on bud because he had back problems he couldn't stay straight with his back...

Clay said on 5/Dec/14
That can put to rest this 6'11'' garbage for Shaq.

Duhon said on 29/Nov/14
Shaq and Robert Click Here

Icehole said on 20/Nov/14
After looking at some pictures of Leonid, I think in some he can look a good 8'. He definitely looks taller than 7'7" but not 8'4". RIP big man.

Sonic said on 23/Oct/14
Makes me wonder what height he could pull off in person to a random stranger. They would probably estimate to be at least 10 feet tall.

Nathan said on 21/Oct/14
Tallest man in modern history at least. There definitely could have been taller people in the past whose heights were not recorded. If you believe in David and Goliath, Goliath was presumably about 9 feet tall.

James Edward Crowley Maximus Meridius said on 15/Oct/14
Rob do you think there will anyone taller than Robert Wadlow one day like in the future his record hasn't been broken but never say never maybe in 20 years time someone out there could reach the 9ft 0in mark I don't think Robert Wadlows record will be broken anyone soon will have too wait and see in the future.

Madzeek said on 7/Oct/14
Some of u are wrong if u sayin dat robert could grow more if he lived longer coz at 20 he stopped growing coz he grew his tallest of 8ft-11 inch then he died 2 yrs later.

Clay said on 22/Sep/14
Was Stadnyk 7'9'' after all? His family is still claiming 8'4'', but those on here that were saying 7'5-6'' were also off.

DesuMaiden said on 19/Sep/14
@Gunther_M: Since when was Stadnik officially measured? Do you have any source on this?

Gunther_M said on 25/Aug/14
Stadnick has died and we finally have an accurate measurement of 231.6cm.

6'4.5 said on 16/Aug/14
Robert Wadlow at 26 years is 300 cm

Oanh said on 12/Aug/14
Chappie says on 8/Apr/13
Grady Patterson was almost as tall as Robert> I think he died young also.

Grady Patterson was a fabricated giant...never existed. There is some articles on the net that reveal the hoax.

Oanh said on 12/Aug/14
rpic says on 4/Nov/13
Robert wdlow culd have bee over 9 eet in shoes and some resources said that Robert could not stand up straight all of the time when he was being measured. Robert could have reached 9ft 2inches if you think about it?

I read something about that years ago. I don't remember exactly what the article said verbatim, but Wadlow was 8'11" in his stockings. With his shoes on, he was easily 9'0.