Mills Darden - 7 feet 6 inches (228.6 cm)

APPLETON's CYCLOPAEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY " N. Y., 1892, volume 2, page 77: DARDEN, Miles, giant, b. in North Carolina is 1798; d. in Henderson county, Tenn., 28 Jun, 1857. He wits seven feet six inches in height, and at his death weighed more than one thousand pounds. Until 1838 he was active, energetic, and able to labor, but from that time was obliged to remain at home, or be moved about in a wagon. In 1850 it required thirteen and is halt yards of cloth, one yard wide, to make him as coat. His coffin was eight feet long, thirty-five inches deep, thirty-two inches across the breast, eighteen across tie bead, and fourteen across the feet." Mills Darden (October 7, 1799 – January 23, 1857) is alleged to have been one of the largest men in history. He was widely reported to have stood approximately 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 m) tall and is said to have weighed around 1,000 to 1,100 pounds (450 to 500 kg) at his heaviest. If the reported figures are correct, Darden was 30 percent taller and about six times as heavy as the average American male of today. Mills (or Miles) Darden was born on October 7, 1799, near Rich Square, North Carolina, to John and Mary Darden. He was married at least once and had several children. His wife Mary, who died in 1837 aged about 40, was 4 feet 11 inches (1.5 m) tall and weighed 98 pounds (44 kg), and the tallest of their sons reached 5 feet 11 inches (1.8 m) (tall for an era when the average adult American male only stood about 5 feet 6 inches (1.7 m)). Mills Darden made his living as a farmer and reportedly owned a saloon at some point. There are many tales of his enormous size and strength, although it is difficult to tell whether they are fact or fiction. A few cunning villagers once measured his weight by marking the exact point his one-horse cart (which had springs) lowered to as he sat on it. Later on, they placed large rocks on the cart to see just how much weight it would take to match Mills sitting on it. They concluded that he weighed over a thousand pounds. He died on January 23, 1857. He was buried in Lexington, Tennessee. His grave, and his wife's, have been restored by the local Development Authority. No known photo remains of him. End of Wikipedia citation. However, there is a picture floating around on the internet claiming to have him on it. It is a picture of a group and the fake Mills Darden is standing on the right hand side. This is not him, in fact it is a circus fat man from the 1930's. The picture of this man is shown at the bottom of this page. Apart from the fact that we know who the man in the picture is (although we don't know his name for certain. the name Tiny Cowan has been mentioned) it is also next to impossible to be him because as stated above, he was obliged to stay at home or be moved about in a wagon since 1838. He was not able to walk anymore. In 1838 the technology to take pictures like below did not exist. Even in January 1857 (his death) a group picture like this would be much inferior quality. If a picture of him does exist (not likely) it would almost certainly be a portrait, close up. Tweet

This is the image mentioned in the text above. This (on the right) is not Mills Darden. The picture is photoshopped.	It is in fact this man, a circus fat man from 1930. The image is the same, mirrored and a hat added.