Robert Wadlow was normal at birth but started growing abnormally when he was two, after a double hernia operation. He was six feet tall at age six. By the time he was 17, he was eight feet tall. Because he was so tall, he got lots of attention and became very famous, but his bones were very weak and he had to wear leg braces. In 1940, he was walking in a Fourth of July parade, when one of his braces made his ankle get infected; he died on the 15th of that month. When he died he was 8' 11.1". Robert was 6' 5" on his knees.