Louis Cyr was a French Canadian strongman with a career spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His recorded feats, including lifting 500 pounds (227 kg) with one finger and backlifting 4,337 pounds (1,967 kg), show Cyr to be, according to former International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness chairman Ben Weider as stated in 2000, the strongest man ever.
Cyr c. 1890s
Louis Cyr with wife Mélina Courtois and daughter Émiliana Cyr
Louis Cyr ready to restrain horses, 1891
Monument to Louis Cyr by Robert Pelletier in Place des Hommes-Forts in Montreal
A strongman is someone who exhibits strength through strength athletics. Strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, are composed of a variety of events in which competitors have to move the highest weights possible, the winner being the one having the highest tally across all events. In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength.
Angus MacAskill was a notable strongman of the 19th century.
Brian Shaw performing the deadlift at the 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic