A Brief History of the World's Tallest Buildings

Chrysler Building
Iconic as it is, New York City's Chrysler Building enjoyed the title of world's tallest building for barely a year. It began its reign in late 1929, after winning a heated competition with the developers of the Bank of Manhattan Trust building (now known as 40 Wall Street) who had publicly declared their tower to be tallest in the world before completion. The Chrysler Building's designers secretly constructed a 180-ft. (55 m) spire within its main tower; when it was hoisted into position, the Art Deco masterpiece topped out at 1,046 ft. (319 m). However, its reign was already doomed: the Empire State Building, under construction a few blocks south, would dwarf it upon opening in 1931.

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