Adam Rainer lived as both a dwarf and a giant. Born in 1899 in Austria, Rainer was 4 feet tall at age 18. Then, suddenly, he began to grow, stretching a full meter in the next 11 years to reach 7 feet 1.75 inches in 1931. The physical strain left him bedridden for life, but he kept growing. When he died in 1950 at age 51, Rainer had reached 7 feet 8 inches, having grown 44 inches during his adult years. Probably he had a pituitary tumor.