London's 'Irish Giant': Museum wants to remove controversial skeleton display

Charles Byrne stood 7'7" and requested a burial at sea to avoid dissection, but a collector bribed someone to help him steal the body and replace it in the coffin.

Irishman Charles Byrne reached a staggering height of 7-foot-7, earning the nickname of the "Irish Giant." Upon his death in June 1783 at the age of 22, he asked his friends to ensure he received a proper burial at sea so that doctors wouldn’t try to dissect his body.  Peter Aitken is a Fox News Digital reporter with a focus on national and global news. 

But for over 200 years Bryne’s skeleton has remained on display at the Royal College of Surgeons’ Hunterian Museum, which houses the collection of anatomist John Hunter, who bribed someone with £500 to replace Byrne’s remains in his coffin so that he could acquire them for himself.