00:00Imagine a person who weighs like an adult queen.
00:04As for her size, she is almost like two adults stacked on top of each other.
00:09This is exactly what Robert Pershing Wadlow looked like.
00:13This American type was the tallest person ever recorded,
00:17measuring an impressive 272 cm high and weighing 200 kg.
00:23Growing up, Wadlow was still the tallest child in the room.
00:28At the age of 8, he was already as tall as his father.
00:31And at 9, he was strong enough and tall enough to carry his own father.
00:36By the time he got his high school diploma,
00:39he was already 8 feet and 4 inches tall.
00:42As for his employment prospects, he intended to become a lawyer,
00:46and he even enrolled at the university.
00:48But his size allowed him to have a few side activities.
00:51First, circus performances that made him famous in no time.
00:56Secondly, in 1938, he started a promotional tour with the International Shoe Company,
01:02getting free shoes on the road.
01:05Wadlow was not one of those who took part in monster shows.
01:09He saw himself as a walking ad for the company.
01:12Because of his immense stature,
01:14he had to wear special leg straps to help him walk.
01:18He never used a wheelchair,
01:20but walking was certainly a big struggle for him.
01:23Unfortunately, an infection caused by a defective heel led to his premature death in 1940.
01:30His coffin was so huge that it took 12 carriers and 8 assistants to transport him.
01:36To this day, a huge statue of Wadlow stands proudly in Halton, his hometown.
01:42During his short life, Robert lived only 22 years.
01:46He never stopped growing.
01:48Every year, he gained a few more centimeters to reach a gigantic size.
01:53When he was 21, he surpassed John Rogan in terms of height.
01:58And it was the man who had been recorded as the tallest man ever before Robert made his appearance.
02:05Rob's predecessor, John Budd Rogan, born in Tennessee,
02:10was known as the tallest non-mobile person ever recorded, measuring 267 centimeters.
02:17His rapid growth began at the age of 13 due to gigantism,
02:22which led to a stiffness in the joints.
02:25Despite his condition, which prevented him from working physically,
02:28Rogan earned his living by selling portraits and postcards.
02:32He refused offers to join carnivals and shows,
02:36preferring to maintain his independence.
02:38Rogan used a cart pulled by goats as a wheelchair.
02:42He was known for his deep voice and playful behavior.
02:45Unlike Robert Wadlow, John Rogan did not weigh as much as a queen.
02:50On the contrary, he weighed only 79 kilograms,
02:54which is two and a half times less than Robert.
02:56Zeng Jinliang of China amazed the world
02:59by becoming the tallest woman ever recorded in modern times.
03:02Despite the fact that her parents and brothers and sisters are of medium height,
03:06she had a gene for an impressive height.
03:09But her stature was the result of a condition.
03:12In fact, a tumor disrupted her hormones and made her grow in height.
03:17At the age of 13, she was already taller than the tallest boy of her age.
03:22Zeng succeeded in obtaining his diploma,
03:25despite all the attention that his height attracted.
03:28People came from afar to meet her and marvel at her impressive stature.
03:33Even if the doctors suggested a surgical intervention
03:37to remove the tumor causing her rapid growth,
03:40Zeng decided to keep it.
03:42She did not want to lose her hair.
03:44She was also a big glutton,
03:46eating tons of ravioli and rice every day to feed her body.
03:50Unfortunately, health problems caught up with her
03:53and she died in 1982.
03:56Her height was recorded at 249 centimeters.
04:00She surpassed Jane Bondford for the title of the largest woman
04:04who had never walked on earth
04:06and was even the tallest person in the world from 1981 to 1982.
04:12In fact, Jane Bondford was the most famous British person ever recognized.
04:18With a height of 240 and 1 centimeter,
04:21she certainly stood out in a crowd.
04:24Born in Birmingham in 1895,
04:27Jane was a completely ordinary person until the age of 11.
04:31At that age, she had an accident that changed her life forever.
04:36A head injury damaged her pituitary gland,
04:39causing an excessive production of growth hormones
04:42that made her height go up.
04:45Because of the discomfort caused by her gigantic height,
04:48she had to leave school.
04:50Although she had the opportunity to take advantage of her unique stature,
04:53Jane chose to lead a quiet life.
04:55Over the past few years, she has become a recluse
04:58because of the unwanted attention that her height attracted.
05:01Fighting against joint problems
05:03and a severe curvature of the spine,
05:06Jane died at the age of 26.
05:08Hi, I have a little question for you.
05:11The size, is it something that can change or not?
05:14It actually seems that we grow a little during the day
05:17and shrink at night.
05:19Let's thank gravity for that.
05:21But there was a crazy case
05:23where a guy named Adam Reiner
05:25was super small at 21,
05:27only 118 cm,
05:29but then he suddenly started to grow like a madman.
05:33At 32, he was 218 cm tall.
05:36Unfortunately, all this growth occurred so quickly
05:39that he died for life
05:41and did not become a basketball star.
05:44Socks can be a real headache for tall people.
05:48Don Keller, who wore size 22 shoes,
05:51said that his biggest clothing problem
05:53was finding socks his size.
05:56Fortunately, he found a company in Pennsylvania
05:59that made tailor-made socks for him.
06:01Don was really tall,
06:03one of the only 24 people in history
06:06to reach more than 244 cm in height.
06:09He was known as the tallest man in the world
06:12from 1969 to his death in 1981,
06:16having reached 249 cm.
06:19He had a condition called gigantism
06:21that made him grow abnormally
06:23from the age of 10.
06:25Don was born in Denton, Montana,
06:27to parents who were twice as tall as the average.
06:30He had a twin sister,
06:32but she was 5 feet and 9 inches tall.
06:34It was a record size difference
06:36of 2 feet and 5 inches between the twins,
06:38recognized by the Guinness World Records.
06:41Don worked as a salesman for 25 years,
06:44using his size as an advantage
06:46during his meetings with customers.
06:48If you also wear a larger shoe size,
06:51you know how frustrating it can be
06:53to find the perfect pair.
06:55Tringe Kiver of the Netherlands
06:57certainly understood this struggle.
06:59Born in 1616,
07:01she is said to be the largest woman in history,
07:04measuring 9 feet of Amsterdam, 261 cm.
07:08Unfortunately, she died at only 17 years old.
07:12These original shoes,
07:14which measured more than 35 cm in length,
07:17European size 54,
07:19or American size 22 for women,
07:21are still exposed.
07:23Her parents even took her to carnivals
07:25to make money by showing her.
07:28Tringe attracted attention for the first time
07:30when she was 9 years old.
07:32At that time,
07:33she was already 6 feet 7 inches tall.
07:36A royal group,
07:37including the King of Bohemia and his family,
07:39visited her in The Hague,
07:41curious to see the 9-year-old girl
07:43taller than all men in Europe.
07:45The Netherlands houses people
07:47who are really very tall.
07:48The average size of these residents
07:50is 183 cm.
07:52The United States may have produced
07:54a few giants in the past.
07:56But the current titles
07:58of the tallest man and woman
08:00are held by Turkey.
08:02Meet Rumesa Gelgi,
08:04the imposing treasure of Turkey
08:06and the queen of the Guinness World Records.
08:09At 24 years old,
08:10this 7-foot-tall woman
08:12is not only the tallest living woman,
08:14but also a web front-end developer,
08:17a passionate police novelist
08:19and a swimming pro.
08:21She faces challenges
08:22with Weaver's syndrome.
08:24She is a fighter
08:25and a spokesperson
08:26for rare conditions.
08:28In 2024,
08:29Sultan Közen is the tallest living man in the world.
08:33In 2009,
08:34he became famous
08:35when he was measured
08:36by the Guinness World Records.
08:38He was 8 feet and 1 inch tall.
08:41Can you believe that?
08:42Only a few people in history
08:44have ever reached this height.
08:46This Turkish farmer
08:47began to grow only at the age of 10.
08:49And guess what?
08:50All the members of his family
08:52are of average size,
08:53except him.
08:54He has a condition
08:55called hypophysical gigantism.
08:57Being very tall
08:58certainly has its advantages
08:59and disadvantages for Sultan.
09:01He can easily help his mother
09:03with household chores.
09:04But shopping for clothes
09:06and sneaking in a normal-sized car
09:08can be a real challenge.
09:10And playing professional basketball
09:12is not conceivable
09:14because he is simply too tall
09:16for the field.
09:17Sultan also holds the record
09:19for the tallest hands
09:20in a living person.
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