Stop 1 · United States
New York
The Empire State Building held the record for 40 years — longer than any building before or since. It was built in just 410 days.
Cities that have held the world's tallest building
Follow the record around the globe: each stop held the title of tallest building on earth at some point since 1930.
The five stops
Stop 2 · United States
Chicago
The Sears Tower — now Willis — took the record in 1973 and held it for 25 years. Its nine bundled tubes were a genuinely new structural idea.
Stop 3 · Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
The Petronas Towers took the title in 1998 — the first time it left the United States. Their spires counted; the roofs were lower than Chicago's.
Stop 4 · Taiwan
Taipei
Taipei 101 held the record from 2004 to 2010, and was the first building to break the half-kilometre mark.
Stop 5 · United Arab Emirates
Dubai
The Burj Khalifa has held the record since 2010 at 828 m — beating the previous holder by more than 300 m, the largest jump in the record's history.
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