Ever wondered who the tallest man in the world is?
Filed under human interest, people, travel, trivia
It’s Robert Pershing Wadlow, from Alton, Illinois. He was 8 feet 11 inches tall when he was last measured in 1940, when he was just 22 years old. When he was nine, he was able to carry his father, who was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 170 lbs, up the stairs of their family home.
To illustrate, this is how tall he is, and this is how short I am:
That’s a life-size replica of him at the Guinness World of Records Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a tourist town I visited and fell in love with last week. (That’s for another entry, though. :)) I am half his height at about the same age!
And this is how my foot compares to his:
I wear an Asian size 5 shoes by the way, which is size 4 in the US.
Comments
you’re so petite and cute, Scout. oh and Yes. it’s a Son this time. Last na. Promise.
He’s a giant. Imagine if he’s still alive, he’ll have problems with mass transportation. He can’t fit in a seat.
@TK
i’m happy for you! sa wakas na-shoot! hehe.
i look like a kid, no?
@abaniko
he’ll probably have a customized car. i assume he comes from a well-off family, because his father was a mayor in their town.
wow, he sure is big!
what if ganyan kalaki ang mapangasawa mo, stox?
para ka na niyang anak. haha.
wala naman atang tao na ganyan kalaki ngayon no. and if ever there is, di ako papayag.
^ may naiisip akong i-ko-comment. pero ‘wag na. hahaha.
wala nang ganitong mga Museums sa Pinas (or maybe i’m just not looking hard enough.) hehe.
ano yun? sige na! sinabi mo pa, di mo naman pala itutuloy.
what do you mean by wala na? meron bang ganitong musems before sa pinas?
size 5 din paa q and probably same height tau hehehe…
Poor guy, he had a ton of health problems that eventually killed him. Humans aren’t put together to be that tall.
Today people with hormonal problems like him can be treated, but the medical science didn’t exist back then to do anything.
@ate honey
i’m 4′10″ and proud of it.:P ikaw?
@nakajoe
really? i didn’t know that. i hadn’t read up on him yet. i thought he got his height from his genes.
wag na. stox. sa ym nalang. haha.
never nagka-Guiness Museum dito (I believe) pero Ripley’s Believe It or Not, yes. I remember noong elementary ako. nag-field trip kami to that museum.
talaga? where?
waah…kadako sa sapatot…hehehe…
aileen, pakiupdate ko sa akong link to empressofdrac.com
thanks…
sapatot? LOL.
alright. done, ma’am!
sa Shang daw. which is weird kasi, i remember the museum being really elaborate, full of tunnels and hands-on exhibits. saan kaya sa shang nilagay yun? sana ibalik nila.
i remember going to a science museum in shang when i was a kid. yun ba tinutukoy mo or iba pa yun?
Well, from his genes meaning genetic disorder. He had a pituitary gland problem that caused him to have hugely abnormal amounts of growth hormone. He didn’t live past his early 20s and was still growing then. Couldn’t even walk up straight by himself by then either.
Hehe… It must’ve been daunting to meet Wadlow in real life… I came across EJ Feihl once and it was all I could do not to jump up and see if I can reach him hehe
di ko sure kung yun nga yun. pero Ripley’s is definitely not a science museum (in the tradition of the Museong Pambata). Ripey’s is more a wunnerful-world-of-weirdities kind of museum.
i’m sure it wasn’t easy for him. i watched a show on TLC about the current tallest living woman and she is suffering from serious health complications. she couldn’t live a normal life because of her size.
im 5′1 hehehe
@nakajoe
i read that, too. poor boy. i should be happy with my height. LOL.
@philos
PBA players used to practice at our school gym when i was a kid. i was only as tall as their thighs. LOL.
@paul
i’m familiar with ripley’s, but i didn’t know we had one here in the philippines. im not really sure if what i saw when i was a kid was a science museum. what i only remember was that there were a lot of interesting stuff.
@evi
poor woman.
@ate honey
at least umabot ka ng five. hehe.