Robert Wadlow - A Gentle Giant Quiz

Answer: Illinois

Robert Wadlow was born in Alton, Illinois, on 22 February 1918, the first-born child of Addie and Harold Wadlow. He was named Robert Pershing Wadlow, with his middle name honouring the US General John J. Pershing, who was leading the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe at that time during World War I. Robert was a normal-sized baby when he was born, weighing 8 lb 5 oz (3.8 kg). Average birth weight at the time was around 7 lb.

The baby was measured at a height of 1 foot 8 inches (0.51 m).

Answer: 2 years

When he was 6 months old, Robert came to people's attention - he weighed 30 lb (14 kg), a normal weight for a 2-year old. He was 2 feet 10.5 inches tall (0.9 m). Robert Wadlow was his parents' eldest child. He had two brothers, Eugene and Harold Jr, and two sisters, Helen and Betty, none of whom was particularly tall.

Answer: False

Robert Wadlow was not a sickly child at all. He was very strong. When he was 9 years old, he weighed 180 lb and stood 6' 2" tall, and was able to carry his father, seated in a chair, up the stairs of the family home. Through his life Robert Wadlow did not use a wheelchair for mobility. He was able to walk with the aid of leg braces.

Answer: Pituitary

Just before his twelfth birthday, Robert Wadlow's great height was explained by a St. Louis hospital's diagnosis of hypertrophy of the pituitary gland, resulting in abnormally high level of human growth hormone (HGH). This would be treatable nowadays, but in the 1930s the treatment was dangerous and uncertain, so his parents decided not to take the risk.

Answer: Boy Scouts

Robert Wadlow was an outgoing child, interested in many things. He worked at selling magazines, but lost his savings in a bank collapse in 1931. He was in the Camera Club at school, and planned on studying law. He joined the Boy Scouts at the age of 13. Standing 7' 4" tall, Robert was the tallest boy scout ever recorded.

Answer: International Shoe Company

Robert Wadlow started working for the International Shoe Company in 1938, and toured the country. He saw himself as a representative, rather than a performing freak, and wore his regular clothes. The company provided him with custom built shoes. Robert visited over 800 towns in 41 states, traveling over 300,000 miles with his father Harold Sr., who removed the front passenger seat of the family car so that his son could sit in the back and stretch his legs out.

Answer: Ringling Brothers

Robert Wadlow became a national celebrity in 1936 when he appeared in New York and Boston at the Ringling Brothers Circus. He appeared in the circus ring in his normal clothes, rejecting suggestions of dressing up in a top hat and tails.

Answer: No

Robert Wadlow continued to grow as an adult because of hypertrophy of the pituitary gland. At 18 he was 8' 4" tall. At 20 he was 8' 7". By the age of 21 he was 8' 8". He showed no sign of stopping his growth.

Answer: USA

Robert Wadlow was officially recognized as surpassing John Rogan the year before his death. John Rogan (1867-1905) had been a farmer and artist from Tennessee who reached 8' 9" (267 cm). Unlike Robert, by the age of 15 John Rogan was unable to walk.

Answer: Leg brace

Robert Wadlow, despite his size-causing condition, was a quite robust and healthy man. His main health issue was that he suffered from a lack of feeling in his feet. This meant that when he became injured by one of the leg braces he needed for mobility, he did not notice the wound, which became infected.

This was identified while he was on tour in Michigan. Despite medical intervention, delivered in his hotel bed because there were not suitable facilities in a hospital, the condition was so severe that he died on July 15, 1940.