Robert Wadlow

Infobox Person
name=Robert Pershing Wadlow
other_names=Alton Giant


caption=Robert Wadlow compared to his father, Harold Franklin Wadlow
birth_date=February 22, 1918
birth_place=Alton, Illinois
death_date=death date and age|1940|7|15|1918|2|22
death_place=Manistee, Michigan
occupation=
spouse=
known_for= Tallest verified human being
height = height|ft=8|in=11.1
weight = convert|490|lb|kg|abbr=on
parents=Harold Franklin Wadlow
Addie Johnson
children=

Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940) is the tallest person in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. He is often known as the "Alton Giant" because of his Alton, Illinois hometown.

Wadlow reached convert|8|ft|11.1|in|m|2 [ [http://www.worldslargestthings.com/easterntour/wadlow.htm World's Tallest Man] ] [ [http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/ILALTwadlow.html Robert Wadlow, World's Tallest Man, Alton Illinois] ] in height and weighed 490 pounds (220 kg) at his death. His great size and his continued growth in adulthood was due to hypertrophy of his pituitary gland which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone. He showed no indication of an end to his growth even at the time of his death.

Early life

Wadlow was born to Addie and Harold Wadlow in Alton, Illinois on February 22, 1918, and was the oldest of five children. Contrary to popular believe, Wadlow was exaptionally strong. This showed in his early years allready, as he was strong enough to carry his 180 pound father up stairs at the age of ten. His large hands gave him a tremendous grip strenght allowing him to carry very heavy things, although he could not repeat this later in life due to back problems.

In 1936, after graduating from Alton High School, he enrolled in Shurtleff College with the intention of studying law. By 1937, Wadlow had exceeded all previous recorded human heightsFact|date=November 2007.

His shoes still exist in several locations throughout the US, including the Alton Museum of History and Art. They were provided to him free of charge by a shoe company for which he did promotional work and appearancesFact|date=November 2007.

Later years

Wadlow's size began to take its toll: he required leg braces to walk, and had little feeling in his legs and feet. On June 27, 1940 (eighteen days before his death), he was measured at 8 feet 11.1 inches (2.72 m) by doctors C. M. Charles and Cyril MacBryde of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

In his time, Wadlow was among the most popular of American celebrities; he was well-known due to his 1936 U.S. tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus and his 1938 promotional tour with the INTERCO. He continued participating in various tours and public appearances.

Death

On July 4, 1940, while making a professional appearance at the National Forest Festival, a faulty brace irritated his ankle, causing a blister and subsequent infection. Doctors treated him with a blood transfusion and emergency surgery, but his condition worsened and on July 15, 1940, he died in his sleep. He was 22.

An estimated 40,000 people attended Wadlow's funeral on July 19. He was buried in a half-ton coffin that required 12 pallbearers to carry, which was interred within a vault of solid concrete. It was believed that Wadlow's family were concerned for the sanctity of his body after his death, and went to these lengths of security to ensure it would never be disturbed or stolen.

Today

In 1985, a life-size bronze statue of Wadlow by Ned Giberson was erected at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Dental Medicine. He is also featured in film and with a wax replica in the Ripley's Believe It Or Not! museum in Saint Augustine, Florida, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Niagara Falls, Canada, Gold Coast, Queensland and Guadalajara, Mexico. A life-sized statue was part of the exhibits at the Guinness Hall of World Records in the Empire State Building in New York City. The 1998 song "The Giant of Illinois," by the Handsome Family honors Wadlow with a hauntingly ambiguous lament, and he is still known affectionately as the "Gentle Giant."

ee also

*Bao Xishun
*Gul Mohammed
*Leonid Stadnyk
*List of tallest people

References

Further reading

*"The gentleman giant; the biography of Robert Pershing Wadlow". 1944. Frederic Fadner, assisted by Harold F. Wadlow. Boston, B. Humphries, Inc.
*"Looking back and up: At Robert Pershing Wadlow, the gentle giant". 1993. Sandra Hamilton. Alton Museum of History and Art.
*"Boy Giant". 2003. Dan Brannan. Alton Museum of History and Art.

External links

* [http://www.altonweb.com/history/wadlow/ Alton Museum of History and Art article]
* [http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:691750&id=I34311111 Wadlow genealogy]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1590 Find A Grave: Robert Wadlow]
* [http://www.maniacworld.com/worlds_tallest_man.htm Robert Wadlow Video] Video clip on the life of Robert Wadlow
* [http://www.worldslargestthings.com/easterntour/wadlow.htm The Bronze Statue]
* [http://www.graveyards.com/IL/Madison/upperalton/wadlow.html graveyards.com: Upper Alton Cemetery]