Know more about the world's tallest man, Robert Wadlow

New Delhi: Robert Wadlow was among the most popular of American celebrities , he is the tallest man ever lived in world history. Born on February 22, 1918, he was the eldest son of his parents. He was 6 feet tall by the time he was 8 years old.He is as known as the Alton Giant or Giant of Illinois because he was born and grew up in Alton, Illinois.During elementary school, a special desk used to be arranged for him because of his size. In 1936, after graduating from Alton High School, he enrolled in Shurtleff College with the intention of studying law. By the time he had graduated from high school, he was 8 ft 4 in.Wadlow's size began to take its toll: he required leg braces to walk, and had little feeling in his legs and feet. Despite these difficulties, Wadlow never used a wheelchair.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 still growing when he died at age 22. His continued growth in was due to hyperplasia of his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone.He was buried in a half-ton coffin that required 12 pallbearers to carry, which was interred within a vault of solid concrete. An estimated 40,000 people attended Robert Wadlow's funeral.Today a life-sized bronze statue of Robert stands on the campus of the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine.The statue was erected in 1985. From the Guinness Book of World Records: The tallest man in medical history was Robert Wadlow (USA). When measured in June 1940, shortly before his death, he was 8ft. 11.1 in. (2.72 m.) tall. His greatest recorded weight was 491 lb.(222.71 kg) on his 21st birthday. He weighed 438 lb. (199 kg) at the time of his death. His shoe size was 37AA (18.5 in. or 47 cm long) and his hands measured 12.75 in. (32.4 cm) from the wrist to the tip ofthe middle finger. His arm span was 9 ft. 5.75 in. (2.88 m) and his peak daily foodconsumption was 8,000 calories. At the age of nine, he was able to carry his father, Harold F. Wadlow, who stood 5 ft. 11 in. (1.8 m) and weighed 170 lb. (77 kg), up the stairs of the family home.