According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Robert Pershing Wadlow was the tallest (documented) living human in history at 8'11". At the time of his death in 1940 he weighed 490 pounds.

Wadlow was born in 1918 in Alton, IL, and, as a result of an over-active pituitary gland experienced an extraordinary rate of growth. After a normal birth height/weight ratio, Robert began growing...and growing.

By age 5, he had reached 5'6" tall and wore the clothes of a 17-year old. At age 10, he was 6'5", 210 pounds and wore size 17 1/2 shoes. When Robert became a Boy Scout at age 13, he measured 7'4" and 270 pounds. It took 14 yards of material to make his uniform.

Wadlow, with his father, took a goodwill tour in 1937 for the International Shoe Company and shortly thereafter, the company provided his $100, size 37s free of charge.

His funeral attracted over 40,000 mourners and his 1,000-pound casket needed 12 pallbearers assited by eight others.