Jon Brower Minnoch
Updated: 12/11/2025, 1:06:57 PM Wikipedia source
Jon Brower Minnoch (September 29, 1941 – September 4, 1983) was an American man who is reported as the heaviest recorded human in history, weighing approximately 1,400 lb (635 kilograms; 100 stone) at his peak. Obese since childhood, Minnoch normally weighed 800–900 lb (363–408 kilograms; 57–64 stone) during his adult years. He owned a taxi company and worked as a driver around his home in Bainbridge Island, Washington. In an attempt to lose weight, Minnoch went on a 600 kcal (2,500 kJ) per day diet under a doctor's orders. As a result, Minnoch was bedridden for about three weeks before finally agreeing to go to a hospital in March 1978. It took over a dozen firefighters to transport him to the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Doctors diagnosed Minnoch with a massive edema, and an endocrinologist estimated his weight to be approximately 1,400 lb (635 kilograms; 100 stone). His physicians placed him on a 1,200 kcal (5,000 kJ) per day diet where, after around two years in the hospital, he lost over 900 lb (408 kg; 64 st)—the largest documented human weight loss at the time. After leaving the hospital, Minnoch regained much of the weight and died in September 1983, weighing nearly 800 lb (363 kg; 57 st) at his death. Minnoch's casket took up two burial spots at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle.
Infobox
Tables
| Preceded byFrancis John Lang | Heaviest person ever recorded 1941–1983 | Succeeded byNone |
References
- While Minnoch was the heaviest person in history, Robert Earl Hughes (1926–1958) holds the record, according to Guinness
- This record was surpassed by the Saudi Arabian man Khalid bin Mohsen Shaari, who lost 1,203 lb (546 kilograms; 86 stone)
- McArdle preferred to be called Jean.
- Bainbridge Island Reviewhttps://issuu.com/pnwmarketplace/docs/i20141125162002729
- Certificate of Deathhttps://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/DigitalObject/Download/e91486d8-3997-43dd-a2b1-b4c3e6cfa3f7
- Functional Biochemistry in Health and Diseasehttps://books.google.com/books?id=L24t58739VIC
- Secrets of the Sideshowshttps://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcf40
- New Zealand Heraldhttps://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/worlds-heaviest-teen-khaled-mohsen-al-shaeri-reveals-dramatic-weight-loss/XBJ67MXZM2QCSSY3QYHVSTYBTM/
- Washington State Digital Archiveshttps://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/2E8D75881804E8F0D735985BF4BFBA75
- Washington State Digital Archiveshttps://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/3F30535E0B3B4980C885770E81579B66
- The Pig: A Natural Historyhttps://books.google.com/books?id=BBSLDwAAQBAJ
- The Bellingham Herald
- Kitsap Sun
- Ogden Standard Examiner
- Deseret Newshttps://books.google.com/books?id=ho0zAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22peter+minnoch%22&pg=PA5&article_id=5910,2155931
- Fat Chemistry: The Science behind Obesityhttps://books.google.com/books?id=mGsoDwAAQBAJ
- The Journal of Popular Culturehttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpcu.12509
- The American Journal of Cardiologyhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/000291499190770L
- Endocrine Secretshttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9781455749751000711
- Obesityhttps://books.google.com/books?id=pHlUDwAAQBAJ
- Ellensburg Daily Recordhttps://books.google.com/books?id=UoJUAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22John+minnoch%22&pg=PA1&article_id=6473,1211318
- Fat, Gluttony and Sloth: Obesity in Medicine, Art and Literaturehttps://archive.org/details/fatgluttonysloth0000hasl/page/32/mode/2up?q=%22minnoch%22
- The Cougarhttps://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Jon_Minnoch&event=_washington-usa_50&name_x=1_1&successSource=Search&queryId=ccf72fabdd8624b6f50466e4f1df6784
- Wisconsin State Journalhttps://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-jul-07-1979-3906365/
- English: A page from Snohomish County Government mug book, 1960-1964https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jon_Brower_Minnoch_mug_shot.jpg
- Guinness World Recordshttps://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/71291-greatest-weight-differential-married-couple
- Washington State Digital Archiveshttps://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/6D441D1AEBF945ED59325B0498C4D765
- Guinness Book of World Records: 1990https://books.google.com/books?id=EKSHvbY5howC
- Madison Capital Timeshttps://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-mar-30-1978-3906584/
- Britannica Book of the Yearhttps://archive.org/details/1980britannicabo00daum/mode/2up
- Mathematics Todayhttps://cdn.ima.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/MT_2010_The_Problem_of_Obesity.pdf
- Gettysburg Timeshttps://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-apr-05-1978-3906356/
- Guinness World Recordshttps://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/heaviest-man/
- The Boston Globehttps://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-world-records/125491726/
- Evening Independenthttps://books.google.com/books?id=52ZQAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA9
- The Desert Sunhttps://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19830916.2.33&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------