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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Man Who was Born with Three Legs and Two Hearts


George Lippert was born in Germany in 1844. In addition to being born with three legs, he was also born with two functioning hearts, although that condition was unknown until his autopsy in 1906. His third leg was fully formed and even possessed an extra toe, giving Lippert a total of sixteen. The leg was not functional. Lippert claimed that his leg had been fully functional until it sustained a fracture. 

Early in his career George was billed as the "only Three Legged Man on Earth" and he proved to be quite an attraction. Lippert even worked an exhibit with P. T. Barnum. However, evidence indicates that he may not have been the easiest person with whom to do business. No photographs exist of George Lippert, except for a pitch card of a painting of Lippert that is shown above.
Lippert had a three-legged rival named Francesco Lentini. His fate was far more successful and he lived a long life, got married, and had children. He died in 1966 at the age of 78. 
Francesco was born in 1889 in Sicily. He was actually born with four legs, but the fourth limb was so poorly developed that he used to be considered a three-legged man. His third leg was fully functional. However, he also had a set of sixteen toes, and he had two sets of working male genitals. (Source)

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