Height2.72 m
2.2 millionthsCalifornia lengths
9.1 billionthsLight-seconds
907 millionthsAirport runway lengths
Measured on June 27, 1940 - 8 ft 11.1 in
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Robert Wadlow, World's Tallest Person
2.72 meters of gentle giant/The Human Body
Robert Pershing Wadlow (1918-1940) of Alton, Illinois, remains the tallest person in recorded history at 2.72 meters (8 ft 11.1 in). His extraordinary height was caused by hyperplasia of the pituitary gland, resulting in abnormally high levels of growth hormone. At his peak, he weighed 199 kg and wore US size 37AA shoes, each over 47 cm long. He was reportedly gentle and soft-spoken, earning him the nickname 'the Gentle Giant.'
Measurements
Body mass (peak)199 kg
557 trillionthsMount Everest masses
8.7 tenthsUpright pianos
222.71 kg at greatest, ~199 kg at time of death
Shoe length4.7 tenths m
2.47No. 2 pencils
67.1 millionChip transistor gates
4.95Chess kings
US size 37AA; the largest shoes known to have been made
Hand span3.3 tenths m
1.5 thousandthsHoover Dam heights
22.7 millionthsStrait of Gibraltar widths
Measured from wrist to tip of middle finger: ~32.5 cm
Arm span2.88 m
136 billionthsGreat Walls of China
9.6Wine bottle heights
Estimated proportional arm span
Leg inseam1.45 m
9.67Sandwich halves
121Aspirin tablets
Estimated from photographs and proportions