Did you know that little is known about Thomas Wadhouse, the man with the longest nose that allegedly measures 7.8 inches (20 cm) long?

Thomas Wedders, who is also known as Thomas Wadhouse, was born in Yorkshire, England, circa 1730. He was a performer in various circus sideshows in the mid-18th century and is chiefly known for having the world's longest nose, allegedly measuring 7.8 inches (20 cm) long. However, beyond his large nose, little is known about Wedders's life.

Guinness World Records gave him the fitting title of "World's Largest Nose". A wax reproduction of his head is in the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum.

The few writings about Thomas Wadhouse that exist all suggest the same thing. Unlike Bibrowski, Wadhouse was no great thinker.

“[Wadhouse] expired as he lived, in a condition of mind best described as the most abject idiocy,” Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine explains.

The Strand Magazine, Vol XI also wrote of Thomas Wadhouse and his famous nose in 1896, noting that if “noses were ever uniformly exact in representing the importance of the individual,” then Wadhouse would have “amassed all the money in Threadneedle Street and conquered all Europe.”

But Thomas Wadhouse’s large nose wasn’t indicative of any great abilities, the magazine decided. They continued: “Either his chin was too weak or his brow too low, or Nature had so exhausted herself in the task of giving this prodigy a nose as to altogether forget to endow him with brains; or perhaps, the nose crowded out this latter commodity.”

Still, it’s unclear what led Thomas Wadhouse to exhibit himself. Maybe he felt he couldn’t turn his nose up at the opportunity. Or maybe he was led into such a life by others, given Wadhouse’s reputation for low intelligence.

In any case, Thomas Wadhouse died in his 50s around 1780. He left behind no record of his life, no written testimonies to how he felt about his face or the exhibitions that he participated in. Unlike sideshow performers in later eras, there aren’t even any photographs of Wadhouse (though wax replicas of his face have been displayed in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not).

But Thomas Wadhouse did leave behind his legacy as the man with the largest nose — and he still holds that record to this day.

The Guinness World Record site has currently, the record holder for the longest nose, Mehmet Özyürek of Artvin, Turkey, whose nose is an impressive 3.46 inches long.

Sources: Wikipedia | all that's interesting

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