History of the world's tallest buildings

rdf:langString History of the world's tallest buildings

rdf:langString The tallest building in the world, as of 2022, is the Burj Khalifa. The title of "world's tallest building" has been borne by various buildings, such as the Lincoln Cathedral, the Empire State Building and the original World Trade Center. Before the modern skyscraper era, between c. 1311 and 1884, the tallest buildings and structures were mostly Christian churches and cathedrals. Before the 13th century, the tallest buildings in the world cannot be conclusively determined. For instance, the Lighthouse of Alexandria (completed about 280 BC) has been estimated to have been 100 m (330 ft) tall, but its true height is not known. For thousands of years, the Great Pyramid in Egypt was the tallest structure in the world until Lincoln Cathedral of 1311, but the Great Pyramid is not considered a building since it is not habitable. Similarly, the Eiffel Tower was the world's tallest structure from 1889, when it was built, but not the tallest building. The skyscraper was invented in Chicago in 1884 when the Home Insurance Building was constructed using a steel frame with curtain walls instead of load-bearing walls. For the next hundred years, the world's tallest building was always in the United States, with New York City accumulating 86 years, and Chicago 30 years. After just over a century (1885–1998), the distinction moved to the Eastern Hemisphere. Malaysia was the first country to break the United States' record of constructing the tallest buildings in the world when the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998. Taiwan's Taipei 101 was the next to hold the record; the building's status as the world's tallest lasted from 2004 to 2009, when it was transferred to the Burj Khalifa, the current record-holder, upon its completion in the United Arab Emirates.