It’s now more than 100 years since the tallest man ever was born.
Of course, no one anticipated his future as the world’s tallest man when he entered the world on 22 February 1918 weighing an unremarkable 8.7 pounds, the son of average-sized parents.
But Robert Wadlow’s name is now known all over the globe – the towering American who measured a staggering 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall when last measured on 27 June 1940, becoming the tallest man in the world.
We have created a timeline of the iconic giants who have graced the pages of the Guinness World Records annual, continuing to intrigue and amaze people all over the globe.
Measuring 2.46m 8ft 1in, Patrick Cotter OBrien (1760-1806) earned the title of tallest Irishman. (Guinness World Records no longer monitor records based on countries or nationalities – just absolute, world records.)
The tallest teenager ever (female) recorded is Anna Haining Swan (Canada, born 6 August 1846; died 5 August 1888), who grew until she was 17, when she reached 241.3 cm (7 ft 11 in). By age four, Anna was said to have stood 137.16 cm (4 ft 6 in) tall and weighed 42.64 kg (94 lb). At six years old, she was reportedly taller than her 165.1-cm (5-ft 5-in) mother.
On 17 June 1871, Anna married Martin van Buren Bates, who stood 236.22 cm (7 ft 9 in) tall, and they became the tallest married couple ever.
Following a head injury at the age of 11, Jane ‘Ginny’ Bunford, (born 26 Jul 1895) of Birmingham, UK, became the tallest woman ever. Her skeleton, now preserved in the Anatomical Museum in the Medical School at Birmingham University, measures 223.5m (7ft 4in) high.
Robert Wadlow’s first record title was the tallest teenager ever (male), measuring a huge 2.45 m (8 ft 0.5 in) at the age of 17.
The tallest man ever in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Wadlow, who when last measured on 27 June 1940 was found to be 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall.
Don lived in Denton, Montana, and had a twin sister who was 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) tall.
Later on in life spinal curvature reduced his standing to 2.38 m (7ft 10 in) tall and died in Chicago in 1981.
The first time Guinness World Records officially recognised someone as the tallest woman living was in 1975.
Sandy Allen (USA, born 18 June 1955) was last found to be 2 m 31.7 cm (7 ft 7.25 in). When she was born in Chicago, she weighed 2.95 kg (6 lb 7 oz) and her abnormal growth began soon after.
She stood 1 m 90.5 cm (6 ft 3 in) tall by the age of 10 and was 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) by 16.
Zeng Jinlian (China, born 26 June 1964) of Yujiang village in the Bright Moon Commune, Hunan Province, measured 246.3 cm (8 ft 1 in) when she died on 13 February 1982.
She began to grow abnormally from the age of four months, suffering from both scoliosis and diabetes, and stood 156 cm (5 ft 1 1/2 in) before her fourth birthday and 217 cm (7 ft 1 1/2 in) when she was aged 13. To this day she remains the tallest woman ever.
Jumping ahead a few years, one of the more recent cases of a record-breaking giant is that of Yao Defen from China. She recorded an average height of 233.3 cm (7 ft 7 in) when last documented and achieved the tallest woman living title.
Moroccan Brahim Takioullah (b. 26 January 1982) became the tallest person living after he was found to measure 246.3 cm (8 ft 0.97 in). He remains the tallest man in Morocco.
