The Tallest Man in the World

                                  By: Allison Raynor

Robert Pershing Wadlow was the tallest man ever to walk on earth. He was born on February 22, 1918, in Alton, Illinois. His parents were Addie Johnson and Harold Wadlow. Robert had pituitary gland problems which made him grow so tall.

 By the age of four, Wadlow was five feet four inches. I think that’s amazing because most ten year olds aren’t that tall! But he didn’t stop growing there, by ten he was six feet six inches. When he was nineteen, his height was eight feet six inches. Robert’s shoe size was a size 37AA, in men’s shoe sizes (AA means double wide).

            Wadlow was so tall that he couldn’t feel his lower leg and feet much so he needed leg braces to walk. The leg braces caused blisters on his ankles which he couldn’t feel. The blisters got infected and he needed surgery, but that didn’t help, it got worse. Then Robert died in his sleep, age 22 1940 July 15.

             On July 19 his funeral was held in southern Illinois. About 40,000 people came to his funeral. Now there is a guard guarding his tomb so he is not stolen. There are also wax replucas of him in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! There are Ripley’s in Saint Augustine, Florida, New Jersey, Atlantic City, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Queensland, Gold City and Mexico. There’s also a statue of him in the Empire State Building.

             I went to Niagara Falls this summer and I went to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! That’s how I know about Robert Pershing Wadlow and wanted to research about him.