Unearth The Voyage
Throughout history, some people have grown to heights that seem almost impossible to believe. From basketball courts to circus stages, these towering individuals left the world staring up in amazement.
I remember being a kid and thinking my dad was the tallest man alive at 6 feet, but after learning about these giants, I realized just how wrong I was. Get ready to crane your neck as we count down the 12 tallest people who ever walked this earth.
1. Robert Wadlow (USA) – 272 cm (8 ft 11.1 in)
The name Robert Wadlow is basically synonymous with the word “tall.” Born in Alton, Illinois in 1918, Wadlow grew to a jaw-dropping 8 feet 11.1 inches, making him the undisputed tallest person in recorded history. His condition was caused by hyperplasia of his pituitary gland, which never stopped telling his body to grow.
By age 5, he was already 5 feet 4 inches tall and outweighed his father. He needed leg braces to walk and showed extraordinary kindness despite his challenges.
Wadlow traveled across the United States as a goodwill ambassador for a shoe company.
Tragically, he passed away at just 22 years old due to a faulty brace that caused an infection. His legacy lives on through a life-size bronze statue in his hometown of Alton, Illinois, where visitors still flock to see just how massive this gentle giant truly was.
2. John Rogan (USA) – 267 cm (8 ft 9 in)
Standing at 8 feet 9 inches, John Rogan holds the title of the second tallest person ever documented. Born in 1868 in Gallatin, Tennessee, Rogan developed ankylosis, a condition that fused his joints and made walking nearly impossible by his late teens.
Despite this, he lived until the age of 40, which was remarkable given his condition.
Rogan supported himself by selling photographs and postcards of himself at a local train station, showing real entrepreneurial spirit long before Instagram made self-promotion cool. He was transported around in a cart pulled by goats, which is somehow both heartbreaking and oddly charming.
He weighed only around 175 pounds despite his incredible height, making him extremely thin. Rogan remains one of the least-photographed giants in history, adding an air of mystery to an already fascinating life.
His story deserves far more recognition than it typically gets.
3. John F. Carroll (USA) – 263 cm (8 ft 7.5 in)
Meet John F. Carroll, a Buffalo, New York native who grew to 8 feet 7.5 inches and became one of the most medically documented giants of the early 20th century.
Carroll suffered from a severe spinal curvature, which actually meant his true standing height was difficult to measure precisely. Some researchers believe he may have been even taller had his spine been straight.
His growth was attributed to a pituitary disorder, the same culprit behind many of history’s most extreme cases of gigantism. Carroll struggled significantly with his health and mobility throughout his adult life, spending much of his later years bedridden.
He passed away in 1969 at age 54, relatively older than many of his fellow giants managed to live. Carroll is a lesser-known name compared to Wadlow, but his story is just as compelling.
Sometimes the quiet giants deserve the loudest applause.
4. Väinö Myllyrinne (Finland) – 251 cm (8 ft 2.8 in)
Finland gave the world incredible saunas, heavy metal music, and Väinö Myllyrinne, a man who stood 8 feet 2.8 inches tall and once held the title of world’s tallest living person. Born in 1909, Myllyrinne served in the Finnish military, which raises the very fun question of whether anyone actually tried to argue with him.
He experienced two distinct growth spurts during his life, one in youth and another in his thirties, which was medically unusual even by giant standards. His second growth phase was linked to acromegaly, a condition caused by excess growth hormone in adulthood.
Myllyrinne worked as a farmer and lived a relatively quiet rural life. He passed away in 1963 at age 54.
His legacy is one of quiet strength, a towering Finn who let his height speak for itself without ever needing to shout about it.
5. Sultan Kösen (Turkey) – 251 cm (8 ft 2.8 in) (tallest living man)
Sultan Kösen is not just tall, he is officially the tallest living man on earth according to Guinness World Records, standing at 8 feet 2.8 inches. Born in 1982 in Turkey, Kösen works as a farmer and has become a global celebrity simply by existing at a height most buildings’ first floors would envy.
His gigantism was caused by a tumor affecting his pituitary gland, but in 2010 he underwent successful treatment at the University of Virginia that stopped his growth. That treatment genuinely changed his life, allowing him to focus on health rather than just height.
Kösen also holds the Guinness record for the largest hands on a living person. He got married in 2013 and has spoken openly about the challenges and joys of his extraordinary life.
Sultan Kösen proves that records are not just numbers, they are real people with real stories worth knowing.
6. Edouard Beaupré (Canada) – 251 cm (8 ft 2.8 in)
Edouard Beaupré was not just tall, he was a full-blown strongman who could lift horses and bend iron bars. Born in 1881 in Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan, Beaupré grew to 8 feet 2.8 inches and became one of the most physically impressive giants in recorded history.
He joined the circus and traveled across North America showcasing feats of strength that left audiences completely speechless.
Beaupré was the eldest of 20 children, which means family dinners must have been absolutely wild. He struggled financially despite his fame, as circus life rarely made performers rich in that era.
Tragically, he died at just 23 years old at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. His body was not returned home for decades due to a legal dispute, a sad chapter in an otherwise thrilling life.
Today, a museum in Willow Bunch honors his extraordinary legacy.
7. Bernard Coyne (USA) – 249 cm (8 ft 2 in)
Bernard Coyne’s story is one wrapped in both legend and a frustrating lack of solid documentation. Born in 1897 in Anthon, Iowa, Coyne reportedly reached 8 feet 2 inches, though his measurements remain widely cited but officially unverified.
The military actually rejected him from World War I service because they simply did not make uniforms or equipment in his size.
That rejection must have stung. Being turned away from service not because of health, but because no one made boots big enough, is a uniquely strange kind of exclusion.
Coyne suffered from hyperostosis, a condition that caused excessive bone growth throughout his body.
He died in 1921 at just 23 years old. Coyne’s life was brief and his records are fuzzy, but stories like his remind us that extraordinary lives do not always come with extraordinary documentation.
Sometimes history lets the giants slip quietly through the cracks.
8. Bao Xishun (China) – 236 cm (7 ft 9 in)
Bao Xishun became a global hero in 2006 when he used his extraordinarily long arms to save two dolphins that had swallowed plastic at an aquarium in China. His arms, stretching nearly a meter in length, reached deep enough to remove the objects when medical instruments could not.
That is the kind of superhero origin story nobody expected but everyone needed.
Born in 1951 in Inner Mongolia, China, Bao stands at 7 feet 9 inches and held the Guinness title of world’s tallest man before Sultan Kösen claimed it. He grew to his remarkable height without any known medical disorder, which made his case particularly interesting to researchers.
Bao got married in 2007 to a woman of average height, and their wedding was a massive public event covered internationally. His life proves that being tall is not always a hardship.
Sometimes it literally saves lives.
9. Morteza Mehrzad (Iran) – 246 cm (8 ft 1 in)
Morteza Mehrzad is living proof that extraordinary height and extraordinary achievement can go hand in hand. Standing at 8 feet 1 inch, the Iranian athlete is one of the tallest living people on earth and a decorated Paralympic sitting volleyball player.
He helped lead Iran’s national sitting volleyball team to gold medals at multiple Paralympic Games.
Born in 1987, Mehrzad’s growth was triggered by acromegaly following a cycling accident in his youth that damaged his pituitary gland. One of his legs is significantly longer than the other, adding another layer of physical complexity to his daily life.
Despite these challenges, Mehrzad has become an inspirational figure both in Iran and internationally. His athletic success has reshaped how people think about disability and height.
Morteza Mehrzad is not defined by his condition but by what he has achieved despite it, which is honestly the most powerful kind of story there is.
10. Angus MacAskill (Scotland/Canada) – 236 cm (7 ft 9 in) (non-pathological giant)
What makes Angus MacAskill genuinely stand apart from nearly every other name on this list is that he had absolutely no medical disorder causing his height. Born in 1825 in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and later raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, MacAskill grew to 7 feet 9 inches through pure, unadulterated genetics.
No pituitary tumors, no hormonal conditions, just nature doing its most impressive work.
He was reportedly proportional in every way, possessing enormous strength to match his frame. Stories claim he could lift a ship’s anchor weighing over 2,700 pounds, which sounds exaggerated until you look at the historical accounts that back it up.
MacAskill toured with P.T. Barnum’s circus alongside General Tom Thumb, creating one of history’s most visually striking odd couple partnerships.
He died in 1863 at age 38. A museum and giant statue in Englishtown, Nova Scotia, still celebrate his legendary legacy today.
11. Alexander Sizonenko (Ukraine) – 237 cm (7 ft 9 in)
Alexander Sizonenko played professional basketball in the Soviet Union, which must have given opposing teams a very specific kind of existential dread. Standing at 7 feet 9 inches, the Ukrainian center was one of the tallest basketball players ever to compete professionally, playing in the Soviet league during the 1980s.
He was a legitimate athlete, not just a novelty act.
Born in 1959, Sizonenko’s gigantism eventually took a toll on his body, as it does with most people who grow to such extreme heights. His later years were marked by significant health struggles, a common and heartbreaking pattern among individuals with severe gigantism.
He passed away in 2012. Sizonenko represents a fascinating intersection of sport and medical history, a man who channeled his extraordinary physicality into athletic competition at the highest level available to him.
Not bad for someone who probably broke every locker room chair he ever sat in.
12. Gheorghe Mureșan (Romania) – 231 cm (7 ft 7 in) (tallest NBA player)
Gheorghe Muresan is the tallest player in NBA history, standing at 7 feet 7 inches, and he actually had a successful professional career to back it up. Born in 1971 in Tritenii de Jos, Romania, Muresan played for the Washington Bullets and New Jersey Nets during the 1990s, earning the NBA Most Improved Player award in 1996.
Not just a tall guy on the bench, a genuinely productive player.
His gigantism was caused by a pituitary gland disorder, but unlike many others on this list, treatment helped stabilize his condition relatively early. That medical intervention likely extended both his career and his quality of life significantly.
Muresan also appeared in the 1998 comedy film My Giant alongside Billy Crystal, proving he had a sense of humor about his stature. He remains one of the most recognizable Romanian athletes worldwide.
Sometimes the tallest person in the room also turns out to be the most versatile.
