Imagine never having to borrow your neighbor's ladder, always being able to see the stage no matter where you're seated, and being able to sink a basket just by simply raising your arm. It takes a lot of height to make Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming look short, but these skyscraping folks do it. Prepare to meet the tallest men and women on the planet.

At 8 feet 5 inches, Leonid Stadnik of the Ukraine beat out Bao Xishun in August 2007 for the title of "World's Tallest Man" - by a whopping margin of eight inches. (As a point of reference, Leonid is roughly a foot and a half taller than the late Andre the Giant. Inconceivable!) According to the Associated Press, Stadnik, 37, underwent a brain operation at age 14, which affected his pituitary gland and resulted in a dramatic growth spurt.

Though he has everyone in the world looking up to him (literally), SteveQuayle.com reports that life has been hard on the 440-pound Stadnik. "My two-year-old suit's sleeves and pants are now 30 centimeters (12 inches) shorter than I need," Stadnik told the AP. "My height is God's punishment. My life has no sense. Taking a public bus for me is the same as getting into a car's trunk for a normal person."

The 7'9" tall Bao Xishun proved that he's a gentle giant when he rescued two dolphins at a Chinese aquarium by using his long arms to pull out pieces of plastic that they had ingested. The herdsman from Inner Mongolia also made headlines for getting hitched in March 2007 to a woman who is 25 years younger and two-thirds his height, BBC News reports. Hey, opposites attract. The article also states that Bao was average height until the age of 16, when he experienced an unusual growth spurt which lasted seven years.

Yao Defen's website, YaoDefenAppeal.com, which raises money to treat her condition, lists her height as 7'8", making her arguably the world's tallest woman, though there has been some dispute between her and Sandy Allen. Hailing from China, the 34-year-old Yao attributes her height to acromegaly, a condition resulting from a tumor on the pituitary gland. A onetime circus performer, Yao has battled a number of health problems and is hoping to get surgery to remove her tumor. "Defen would happily swap the title and a good two foot [sic] to be average height and live a normal life," her site claims.

Wikipedia reports that Tunisian Radhouane Charbib was edged out as the "World's Tallest Man" by a measly two millimeters (now-dethroned Bao Xishun was the usurper, in 2005). Tough break. The 38-year-old Charbib measures just under 7'9".

As tall as Leonid Stadnik and Bao Xishun are, they don't even come close to breaking the record set by Robert Pershing Wadlow, who died in 1940. Measuring a whopping 8 feet and 11 inches and weighing 490 pounds at his death, Illinois native Wadlow still holds the record for being the tallest person in the world ever. The Alton Museum of History and Art (located in Wadlow's hometown, where a statue of him can be found) claims that he was 6'2" and weighed 195 pounds by age eight (gulp); this abnormal height has been attributed to an overactive pituitary gland. Incidentally, Wadlow also holds the record as the tallest Boy Scout in history.

In order to fit inside the family car, Wadlow had to remove the front seat and sit in the back. He wore a size 37 shoe and used, the museum reports, three times the amount of cloth required for an average man.

Wadlow died at the age of 32 after suffering an infection caused by blisters on his feet.

Guinness lists the 7'7" Sandy Allen as the "World's Tallest Woman." According to the Guinness site, the Indiana native has been abnormally tall since birth (hitting 6'3" at age 10) because of a tumor on her pituitary gland, which has since been removed. Allen now uses a wheelchair because of poor circulation and weak legs and back.

According to Wikipedia, the band Split Enz named their song "Hello Sandy Allen" in her honor, and she also appeared in a Federico Fellini film.

Wikipedia reports that English-born Sam Stacey boasts the longest longs in the world, as determined by Guinness. The 6'4" 24-year-old's legs measure 49.75 inches, and it's a safe bet that she's heard every version of the "expecting a flood?" high-water hem joke imaginable.

An unforeseen benefit of being nearly 7'9" tall? The women. After England's The Sun reported on sky-high Somali Hussain Bisad's UK arrival, the local Tall Persons Club was inundated with calls from tall women looking for the giant of their dreams. Said 6'8" potential love interest Sarah Fowler: "I think he stands head and shoulders above other men. The fact he gave me flowers and that I was the first to meet him will make lots of girls in the tall club jealous."

"Hussain eats four huge meals and drinks three gallons of water a day and sleeps in a 9ft bed - and he is still growing at nearly an inch a year," The Sun also reported. Bisaid also wears a shoe size 26 (cost: £600 a pair) and has a twin sister who measures just 5'5".

Tallestlivingman.blogspot.com lists Ukrainian circus performer Viktor Zabolotny as measuring 7 feet, 3.5 inches. In a Reuters profile (as found on SteveQuayle.com), however, the former Soviet basketball player claims to be 2.35 meters (about 7'7"). Then again, he also claims to be a Russian named Nikolai. Either way, his massive height puts him among the tallest men on the planet.

According to India's The Tribune, Vikas Uppal measured 8'3". Rediff.com, meanwhile, put the young man's height at 8'9"-which would have made him not only the tallest man in India but also a top contender for the title of "World's Tallest Man"-quite a feat for someone born in 1986. Known as "Vicky," Uppal never had his height confirmed by Guinness before tragically dying in June 2007 following an operation on a brain tumor, Wikipedia reports.

Uppal's hands are said to have been 13 inches long; his feet, 19 inches long.

Think that our ancestors were all short wimps? Think again. Though her actual height is unconfirmed, Dutchwoman Trijntje Keever (1616-1633) is generally regarded as the tallest woman in history. "The Famous People Height List" credits Keever's height as a startling 8 feet, 4.4 inches. Wikipedia claims that Keever was over 6 feet by age nine.

What is it about China and tall people? The late Zeng Jinlian, who Guinness recognizes as the tallest confirmed woman in history, also hailed from China. Zeng's height measured just over 8'1", though spinal deformities prevented her from standing to her full height. Zeng passed away in 1982 at the age of 17, Wikipedia reports.

A native of Mozambique, Gabriel Estavao Monjane measured just over 8 feet until his death in 1990, 7footersplus.blogspot reports. Wikipedia further states that the former circus performer had an overactive pituitary gland and suffered numerous leg ailments and broken bones; his death was caused by a fall at his home.

Gabriel Estavao Monjane's 1990 death paved the way for Libya's Suleiman Ali Nashnush to seize the "World's Tallest Man" title, albeit briefly; the former basketball player died in 1991. Wikipedia lists Nashnush's height as just over 8 feet.