Robert Pershing Wadlow, popularly known as the Giant of Illinois and the Alton Giant (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940), was an American who is unquestionably the tallest person to have ever been measured in history. He was raised in the little town of Alton, Illinois, which is close to St. Louis, Missouri.
Wadlow dἰed at the age of 22 and was 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72 m) tall and 439 lb (199 kg) in weight. His pituitary gland hypertrophy, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone (HGH), was the cause of his enormous stature and his continuous growth into adulthood.
The oldest of five children, Wadlow was born on February 22, 1918, in Alton, Illinois, to parents Harold Franklin and Addie May (Johnson). By the time he was eight years old, he was taller than his father, and an extra desk was created for him in the first grade.
He was 8 feet 4 inches (254 cm) tall when he graduated from Alton High School in 1936. He chose Shurtleff College to pursue a legal education. For additional information, read the entire article…
Robert Wadlow Cause Of Deἀth
Wadlow had minimal sensation in his legs and feet and needed leg braces to walk. He was never a wheelchair user. After touring the United States in 1936 with the Ringling Brothers Circus and performing in the center ring at Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden, Wadlow rose to fame.
He rebuffed the circus’s suggestion that he don a top hat and tails while making appearances, instead choosing to wear his regular attire. He started a commercial tour with the International Shoe Company in 1938 and received free shoes in exchange for wearing only his regular street clothes.
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Wadlow did not see himself as a freak show rather, he worked in advertising. Up until a few days before his deἀth, he was very physically strong. Wadlow was a member of the Masonic-sponsored Order of DeMolay, a group for young men, and he eventually became a Freemason.
Wadlow was a master mason by November 1939 and was governed by the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. and A.M. Wadlow surpassed John Rogan as the tallest man ever a year before his pἀssing. Doctors took his height on June 27, 1940, which was 8 feet, 11.1 inches (2.72 meters), 18 days before he pἀssed away.
A defective brace caused irritation to his ankle on July 4, 1940, while he was performing professionally at the Manistee National Forest Festival, which resulted in infection. He underwent surgery and a blood transfusion after being diagnosed, but because of an inflammatory disorder, his health worsened, and on July 15 he pἀssed away in his sleep.
Guinness World Records Tweeted:
Robert Wadlow died at the age of 22 but there may never be anyone taller than him again.
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) February 22, 2022
Twelve pallbearers and eight aides carried his coffin, which was carried by twelve people and measured 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) long by 2 ft 8 in (0.81 m) wide by 2 ft 6 in (0.76 m) deep and weighed more than 1,000 lb (450 kg).In Upper Alton, Madison County, Illinois, in Oakwood Cemetery, he was laid to rest. In 1986, a statue of Wadlow in life-size was built in front of the Alton Museum of History and Art.
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