Empire State Building

The Empire State Building, a skyscraper in New York City,  is 381 meters (1,250 feet) tall and has 103 floors.

When the Empire State Building was constructed in New York between 1930 and 1931, it cost $41 million to build. President Herbert Hoover hit a button on his desk in Washington DC to turn on the lights of the Empire State Building on May 1, 1931 for the Grand Opening.

For the following forty-one years after it was completed in 1931, the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world.

The Empire State Building as seen from Brooklyn, New York City.photo by FL Smith

It is named after the popular nickname for New York, The Empire State.

The Empire State and the Chrysler buildings were born out of a frantic race between automobile mogul Walter Chrysler and General Motors executive John R Raskob to build the world's tallest skyscraper.

By David Shankbone; cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) Wikipedia Commons

The spire of the Empire State Building was originally designed to serve as a mooring mast for Zeppelins and other airships. The designers proposed ticketing offices and passenger waiting rooms on the 86th floor Observation Deck.  An elevator, traveling between the 86th and 102nd floors, was supposed to transport passengers after they checked in. 

The spire of the Empire State Building was originally designed to serve as a mooring mast for Zeppelins and other airships.

The Empire State Building made it to the big screen on March 2, 1933 when King Kong premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. In the movie, the giant gorilla King Kong climbs to the top of the newly-built Empire State Building while clutching the film's heroine, Ann Darrow, played by Fay Wray. The iconic scene of Kong perched on the top of the building has become one of the most famous images in movie history.

The Empire State Building had only recently been completed at the time of the film's release, and the movie helped to establish the building as an enduring symbol of New York City and American industrial prowess.

The Reynolds Building, which inspired the design of the Empire State Building, receives a Father’s Day card from its protégé every year.

There are 10 million bricks in the Empire State Building.

Each year, runners take part in a race up the 1,576 steps to the Observation level, with the record standing at nine minutes, 33 seconds.

The first time the Empire State Building was cleaned, it took a crew of 30 people working for six months straight to complete the job.

The powerful lights 1,089 feet above the ground on top of the Empire State Building can be seen by aircraft 300 miles away.

The Empire State Building generates more revenue from the observation deck than all the commercial tenants in the remaining 101 floors combined.

A 29‐year‐old woman, Elvita Adams, jumped from the 86th‐floor observation deck of the Empire State Building on December 2, 1979.  She only fell one story before a freak gust of wind swept her onto a ledge. Elvita was rescued shortly after.

The Empire State Building is struck by lightening around one hundred times a year.