After that we walked off.” Robert Wadlow, 17, of Alton, Illinois, holds open the door of a taxicab for his father, Harold, at Union Station after their arrival in Chicago on Jan. 5, 1936.

At 8 feet, 11.1 inches tall, Robert Wadlow was the tallest man to ever walk the Earth, at least in recorded history. Even if he was of normal stature, the people of Alton, where he grew up ...

Robert Wadlow was known as the "Gentle Giant." Despite his dramatic height (eight feet 11.1 inches at his tallest), Wadlow was known as a quiet man, beloved by those in his hometown of Alton ...

Robert Wadlow. Wadlow grew to be 8 feet 11 inches before dying at the age of 22 in 1940. Now, on what would have been his 103rd birthday, one Alton business is honoring one of their most famous ...

This is the incredible life of Robert Wadlow ... Top Trending Wadlow's 1,000-pound casket required 18 pallbearers and was carried to his final resting place in his hometown of Alton, Illinois.

When Oscar Wilde said moderation is fatal, and nothing succeeds like excess, he was not thinking of Robert's situation.

Robert stands 7 feet, 4 inches. * Image: Bettmann/Corbis * 1918: Robert Pershing Wadlow is born in Alton, Illinois. At the time of his death 22 years later, he stands 8 feet 11 inches, making him ...