Robert Wadlow, American giant, 8"11' 271 cm (born 1918)

Robert Wadlow

Tallest person in recorded history (1918–1940)

Robert Pershing Wadlow, also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man. He is the tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. Wadlow was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small city near St. Louis, Missouri.