World's Shortest Man 27" Tall

24-year-old Columbian, Edward Nino Hernandez, has been named the world's shortest man by the Guinness Book of World Records. The previous owner, He Pingping of China, died in March and was 1¹/₂" taller.

Hernandez, who works part-time as a dancer despite having dropped-out of school in the eighth-grade, says he is "happy because [he's] unique," but he is expected to lose the record to Nepalese, Khagendra Thapa Magar, next month when the latter turns 18. Hernandez' brother is only 37" tall, and their mother says doctors never told her why her sons are so short, despite having studied Edward for three years (before "losing interest," she says).

© C Harris Lynn, 2010