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World's tallest man meets world's smallest man for Guinness World Records Day

The shortest man ever, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, meets the world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen.
The shortest man ever, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, meets the world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen.

Well, the long and short of it is that the world's tallest man met the world's shortest man for the first time Thursday in London, England.

Sultan Kosen, a towering 8 feet, three inches tall (2.5m) shook hands with Chandra Bahadur Dangi, just 21.5 inches tall (55 cm) at St. Thomas' Hospital as part of Guinness World Records Day and the 60th anniversary of Guinness World Records.

"I love London and to be able to finally meet Chandra after all this time is amazing," Kosen said. "Even though he is short and I am tall, we have had similar struggles throughout our lives and when I look into Chandra's eyes, I can see he's a good man."

Kosen is 31 years old, and hails from Turkey. Dangi is 75 and comes from Nepal.

"I'm honoured to be in London," Dangi said. "I've always wanted to visit and the fact I get to meet Sultan is special."

On top of being the tallest man in the world, Kosen also holds Guinness records for the largest hands at 27.5 cm, and the largest feet at 36.5 cm. His growth resulted from a tumour affecting his pituitary gland and often must use crutches to walk.

Some 600,000 people around the world took part in events to celebrate Guinness World Record Day. A group in London set a record for the largest gathering of people dressed as penguins and French dancers broke a record for the largest number of cancan kicks in 30 seconds.

(Photos courtesy Getty Images)