Robert Wadlow of Alton, Illinois, was born on February 22, 1918, at a typical 8 pounds 5 ounces. By age eight, he was taller than his father. By his 1936 high school graduation, he was 8 feet 4 inches. When doctors measured him on June 27, 1940 — eighteen days before his death — he had reached 8 feet 11.1 inches and 439 pounds, making him the tallest person in recorded history.
Wadlow became a celebrity after a 1936 U.S. tour with Ringling Brothers Circus, where he was "appearing at Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden in the center ring (never in the sideshow)." He "dressed in his everyday clothes and refused the circus's request that he wear a top hat and tails." When the International Shoe Company began providing his shoes free of charge in 1938, he again insisted on wearing everyday street clothes. "Wadlow saw himself as working in advertising, not exhibiting as a freak."
He died at 22 after a faulty leg brace irritated his ankle and caused an infection during a professional appearance at the Manistee National Forest Festival. His coffin measured 10 feet 9 inches long and weighed over 1,000 pounds. It required twelve pallbearers and eight assistants.
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