The term tallest person in the world is a superlative word used to describe someone who is taller than all other people or objects.
Height is a combination of many factors, including genetics and nutrition. It’s also influenced by hormones and other medical conditions.
Robert Pershing Wadlow
Born on February 22, 1918, in Alton, Illinois, Robert Pershing Wadlow was the tallest person ever to live. He was 3 feet 2 inches tall as a toddler, could carry his father when he was 9, and stretched to a height of 8 feet 11 inches.
As a child, he was a member of the Boy Scouts and read 300 books a year. He also enjoyed stamp collecting and photography.
In the 1930s, he made promotional appearances with the Ringling Brothers Circus. These trips led to his becoming a world-famous celebrity.
After he was old enough to work, Robert went to college at Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois. He was supposed to study law, but his size and health complications forced him to drop out of school.
He later died in 1940. His body was taken to his hometown of Alton, Illinois, for a funeral. The casket weighed about 1,000 pounds and took 18 pallbearers to carry it.
At his funeral, thousands of people showed up to pay their respects to this gentle giant. He was buried in a special casket designed to accommodate his size.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, he was the tallest man ever to live and he was able to reach a height of 8 feet 11 inches before he passed away at age 22.
In 1985, a life-size bronze statue of Wadlow was erected in his hometown of Alton. He was sculpted by local artist Edward Englehardt Giberson.
Today, people from all over the world can visit Robert’s hometown of Alton to see a statue that commemorates his life. His statue stands on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Alton, Illinois.
When he was young, Robert was the tallest Boy Scout in the world and a member of Troop 1. He loved reading and loved boy’s adventure stories. He wore a specially designed uniform and tent that were modified to fit his large frame.
Sultan Kosen
Sultan Kosen was born in Turkey in 1982 and stands tall at 8 feet 3 inches. He has acromegaly, a genetic condition that causes overgrowth. He also has a pituitary tumor that produced an excess of growth hormone.
As a child, Kosen had several surgeries to try to stop the tumor’s growth, but it kept on growing. By the time he was 10, he had already become 7 feet 4 inches tall and he was growing quickly.
Eventually, doctors were able to stabilize his height with medication. But he was still at risk for serious health problems because of his towering height. He was also at risk of losing his world title when Sulemana Abdul Samed, 29, from Ghana, grew to a staggering 9 feet 6 inches in 2022 and almost took over the crown.
Then, in 2010, Kosen came to the attention of Dr. Mary Lee Vance, a renowned expert in pituitary tumors, who was putting him on new medications to try and bring his growth hormone levels down to normal.
She was surprised when she saw the results of her treatment. She had not expected Kosen to be so tall. But she hoped it would help him feel better.
He was not cured of his medical condition, but the surgery did give him some relief. It stopped the tumor’s growth and also prevented his body from overproducing growth hormone, which could have caused further complications.
Now, he has a new lease on life and he hopes to find a wife and have a family. But finding a woman who can love and care for him is not easy, especially with his stature.
While Kosen’s family and friends have helped him adapt his home to accommodate his superlative stature, he hasn’t had the luck of finding a special person to share his life with. He says he’s been trying to find a wife for about a year, but he’s been unsuccessful so far.
He is still working on it, but he’s hoping to meet someone soon who will appreciate his unique size. He wants to be a husband and father, but he needs to find someone who can understand him. He’s also looking for a doctor who can work with him on his special needs and he needs to find someone who will be there when he’s sick.
Chandra Bahadur Dangi
Chandra Bahadur Dangi, born 30 November 1939 in Nepal’s Kalimati district, was a primordial dwarf who broke the record of Gul Mohammed (1957-1997), the shortest man in recorded history. He was a resident of Rhimkholi village, which is located 250 miles west of the capital, Katmandu.
After he was discovered by a forest contractor cutting timber in his village, he was brought to local media attention. He was subsequently enrolled in the Guinness World Records as the world’s shortest person.
In 2012, he travelled to Kathmandu to be measured by Guinness World Records officials. After he was measured three times in one day, he was declared the shortest person in the world.
According to the World Health Organization, people who are short have an average life expectancy of 79 years. Those who are taller, on the other hand, are more likely to live beyond 100 years of age.
He lived a quiet life in his remote village, but always wanted to meet the World’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen. In 2014, he met Sultan and the world’s shortest woman, Jyoti Amge, at an event in London.
However, he fell ill and traveled to Samoa Islands, in the South Pacific, where he later died, reported The Kathmandu Post. He was reportedly suffering from pneumonia, although it was not known what caused his death.
Despite his age, he was active in the community and volunteered to help look after the village’s buffaloes and cows. He also made placemats and head straps for villagers to carry heavy loads on their backs.
After he was awarded the Guinness World Record, Dangi expressed his desire to travel throughout the country and around the world. He also plans to start a charity to help the village.
Dangi was 75 years old when he died on Thursday in a hospital in American Samoa, where he had been visiting recently. He was suffering from pneumonia and was admitted to the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center in Pago Pago, The Wall Street Journal reports. His family is planning to take his body back to his home in Nepal.
Pornchai Saosri
The tallest man in the world, Pornchai Saosri, died at his home in Surin province on Monday morning. The 26-year-old had suffered from many illnesses related to his unusual height and hypertension, which led to his death.
He was bedridden and cared for by his father Saran, 60, and his mother Ms Wern, 56, as well as their 15-year-old granddaughter. He was also assisted by a medical team who helped him to take his medication.
After Pornchai’s illness was reported by the media, locals from across the country donated money to a bank account opened for donations. Mrs Woen said she had received a total of 110,000 baht (around PS2020), and used part of the money to redeem her house which was mortgaged for Pornchai’s medical bills.
According to reports, Pornchai was officially measured at 257 centimetres or 8 feet 5 inches by authorities at Prasat District Office when he needed his ID card renewed earlier this month. His growth was attributed to pituitary gigantism, a condition where the brain is enlarged and has an abnormal amount of hormones.
His claim to being the tallest person in the world was not accepted by Guinness World Records. However, it’s believed he was the tallest man in Thailand from 1989 until his death in 2015 at the age of 26.
Until his death in 2015, Pornchai had claimed to be 8 feet 9.9 inches (2.69 metres) tall but the Guinness Book of World Records has not backed up his claims, even though it says that he is the tallest Thai male living at 8 ft 5.2 in (257 centimetres).
The current Guinness Record holder, Sultan Kosen from Turkey, measures 251 centimetres and is 8 feet 3 inches tall. Kosen, who has a Kurdish background, is considered to be the tallest living human being because of his height and weight.