Robert Wadlow

Robert Wadlow of Alton, Illinois, was measured at 8 feet 11.1 inches (2.72 m) in June 1940. He died the next month, at age 22, from an infection that began with a blister on his foot. No one has been verified as taller.

His height came from a medical measurement taken shortly before his death. Reports of taller people lack that kind of proof.