Yao Defen, believed to be the world's tallest woman:
Yao has begun treatment in a Shanghai hospital to rid her of a brain tumor at the root of her gigantism.
Yao, from a poor farming family in eastern China's Anhui province, measures 2.36 meters (7.75 ft), Chinese doctors say. That is 5 cm (2 inches) more than Sandy Allen of the United States, who is currently listed by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest woman.
Yao suffers from a large tumor in the pituitary gland of her brain, which has stimulated her body to release excessive amounts of growth hormone and made her bones weak, doctors say.
World's Tallest Horse:
Poe the Clydesdale, is an impressive 6 ft 8 in tall horse, and his owner, Shereen Thomspon, is seeking to have him admitted into the Guinness Book of World Records. Poe weighs over 3,000 pounds and stands at 80.8 inches high. The current record holder is shorter by a mere .8 inches. The giant horse eats 10 pounds of grain and drinks 75 gallons of water per day. “He is extremely popular, but his size always means people keep a cautious distance from him — although they shouldn't, as he is a real puppy,” Thompson said.
World's Tallest Bridge:
Designed by British master-architect Lord Foster in collaboration with French bridge engineer Michel Virlogeux, the Millau Viaduct is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one piers summit at 1,118 ft (341 metres), slightly higher than the Eiffel Tower and only 132 ft (40 m) shorter than the Empire State Building. It spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in southern France, and it was formally opened on 14th December 2004.
World's Tallest High Heels:
Apparently, the world's highest heels are 16 inches tall with an 11 inch platform – that's a 5 inch difference. Can you imagine wearing something like that? Your demure, average height 5ft 4in lady will end up looking like one of those Amazonian warriors, or worse, circus clown who's 6ft tall and struggling not to fall over.
World's Tallest Building:
At 2,684 ft (818 m), the Burj Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, will be the tallest man-made building ever built. Its construction began on 21st September 2004, and the tower is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy on 4th January 2010. The total budget for theBurj Dubai project is about US$4.1 billion. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the CEO of Emaar Properties, said that the price of office space at Burj Dubai had reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m2) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Dubai, were selling for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m2).
World's Tallest Snowman:
The world's tallest snowman is no man. The "snowwoman" towering over this village in Maine features eyelashes created from discarded skis and bright red lips made from painted car tires. She wears a giant red hat and a 100-foot-long scarf, and her blond tresses were made from rope. It was a 122-foot-tall mountain of snow. This ski town of about 2,400 residents already held the record for tallest snowman. Since then, they have been waiting for someone else to break the record. When no one rose to the challenge, the folks decided they'd have to break the record themselves.
"Olympia," named after Maine's senior senator, Olympia Snowe, stands nearly 10 feet taller than "Angus, King of the Mountain," who was dedicated by the town in 1999.
It took more than a month, dozens of volunteers and tons of snow to create Olympia. Jim Sysko, a civil engineer, oversaw design and construction. To get an idea of scale, Olympia is about 30 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty (without the base). Her arms consist of 27-foot-tall evergreens.
World's Tallest LEGO Tower:
The new record for the world's tallest LEGO tower returns to USA. The 94.3ft-high pirate ship mast was made with 465,000 bricks, breaking a previous record of 93.43ft set in Denmark in 2006.
World's Tallest Fountain:
As you would expect, the world's tallest fountain is in Dubai, next to the world's tallest building. Set on the 30-acre Burj Dubai Lake, the fountain shoots water jets as high as 500 ft (150 metres), equivalent to that of a 50-storey building. The fountain is 900 ft (275 metres) long and has five circles of varying sizes and two central arcs. It has been designed by California-based WET, the creators of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas and costed $217 million. The water show uses 6,600 lights, 50 colored projectors, and hundreds of servos, all computer controlled and synchronized with music.
World's Tallest Dog:
A dog named Titan lived up to his name when he earned the title world's tallest dog. The 4-year-old white Great Dane from San Diego is blind, deaf, epileptic and undergoes acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments every three weeks, said owner Diana Taylor. The massive canine is often mistaken by young children for a horse or cow. Titan's official height, as measured by a veterinarian, is a hair over 3 1/2 feet tall from floor to shoulder. You could add 8 inches if official measurements included the head, Guinness spokesman Stuart Claxton said. Titan weighs 190 pounds and doesn't stand on his hind legs because it isn't good for him.. If he did, Taylor figures he would stand 80 or 82 inches tall. Titan takes the title held by Gibson, a 7-year-old harlequin Great Dane from Grass Valley, who died earlier this year after battling bone cancer. He was actually slightly shorter than the new title holder.
World's Tallest Thermometer:
At 134 feet, the "World's Tallest Thermometer" is easily visible from Interstate 15 in Baker, California. An appropriate landmark for the town that calls itself "The Gateway to Death Valley," the thermometer regularly records temperatures well in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. In fact, its height recalls the highest temperature ever recorded in the United States: 134 degrees in Death Valley in 1913. Erected by a Baker businessman in 1991, the thermometer is right next to the Bun Boy restaurant and the visitors center for the Mojave National Preserve.
World's Tallest Tree:
A redwood tree discovered in a remote California forest has turned out to be the world's tallest tree, edging out one nearby that had been the titleholder. Prof. Steve Sillett of Humboldt State University said the record-setting tree, named Hyperion, was 379.1 feet tall, bettering the previous record holder, the 370.5-foot-tall Stratosphere Giant. Researchers exploring remote and rugged terrain this summer in the Redwood National and State Parks along California's northernmost coast also discovered two other redwoods taller than the Stratosphere Giant, suggesting there had been many more massive ancient redwoods in the area, Professor Sillett said.
The world's tallest man:
At 8ft 1in (2.47m), Sultan Kosen, from Turkey, is about 4in (10cm) taller than previous title-holder Bao Xishun.
The 27-year-old's hands measure 10.8in (27.5cm) and his feet 14.3in (36.5cm).
Mr Kosen, whose height is due to the medical condition pituitary gigantism, said he hoped his new-found fame would bring him love for the first time.
"The first thing I want to do is have a car that I can fit in, but more than that I want to get married," he said.
"Up until now it's been really difficult to find a girlfriend. I've never had one, they were usually scared of me. I'm hoping now I will find o
