Robert Pershing Wadlow was 8 feet and 11 inches tall when he died of an infected blister at the young age of 22. Wadlow was a normal height and weight at birth, but pituitary problems led to his outsized growth. By age eight he was six feet tall; by age 16 he stood nearly 7'10" and weighed over 370 pounds. In his early adulthood Wadlow toured as a goodwill ambassador for the International Shoe Company. After his death he gained extra fame from his annual listing as the world's tallest man in the Guinness Book of World Records.