List of tallest people

This article is about the tallest verified individuals. For the tallest nationalities, see Average human height by country.
"Tall men" redirects here. For other uses, see The Tall Men.
This article contains dynamic lists that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Robert Wadlow, the tallest verified human, with his average-size father

This is a list of the tallest people, verified by Guinness World Records or other reliable sources.

According to the Guinness World Records, the tallest human in recorded history was Robert Wadlow of the United States (1918–1940), who was 272 cm (8 ft 11 in). He received media attention in 1939 when he was measured to be the tallest man in the world, beating John Rogan's record, after reaching a height of 267 cm (8 ft 9 in).

There are reports about even taller people but most of such claims are unverified or erroneous. Since antiquity, discoveries have been recorded of gigantic human skeletons. Originally thought to belong to mythical giants, these bones were later identified as the exaggerated remains of prehistoric animals, usually whales or elephants.[1][2][3][4][5] Regular reports in American newspapers in the 18th and 19th centuries of giant human skeletons[6][7][8] may have inspired the case of the "petrified" Cardiff Giant, an archaeological hoax.[7][9][10]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Agnesi2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mayor2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gaston2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Newspapers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Tribble2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lepper2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Marshall Joseph Becker. "Origins of the Unusual Stature of the Susquehannock: Skeletal Remains from the Murray Garden Site (36BR2)". Pennsylvania Archaeologist: Bulletin of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Inc. 91 (2): 35–46. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021.
  10. ^ Mark Rose (2005). "When Giants Roamed the Earth". Archaeology. 58 (6). Archived from the original on 3 November 2021.