World's Shortest Man Dies

Three years after being declared the world's shortest man, Chandra Dangi died Thursday at the age of 75. Standing just 21.5 inches tall, Dangi was named the world's shortest man by Guinness World Records in 2012, the Wall Street Journal of India reports. According to the Kathmandu Post, Dangi beat out the previous record holder by less than an inch. In addition to being the shortest living man, he was also the shortest man ever measured.

Prior to being named the world's shortest man, Dangi had never left the remote village of Reemkholi in Nepal, the Independent reports. In the past three years, he moved more than 300 miles to Kathmandu, met the world's tallest man in London, saw the ocean for the first time in Australia, and toured the Pacific with Samoa's Magic Circus. After Dangi's death from illness in a hospital in American Samoa, Guinness World Records offered condolences to his family: "He will be remembered forever as an iconic and extraordinary record holder." The Wall Street Journal has a photo tribute to Dangi here. (More world's shortest man stories.)