Completion of the Empire State Building

The Empire State Building opened in New York City on May 1, 1931, having been built in barely thirteen months by the firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon during a fierce late-1920s race among New York skyscrapers for the title of world's tallest building. At 381 meters to its roof, or 443 meters including the later-added television antenna, it surpassed the nearby Chrysler Building, completed only months earlier, and held the title of world's tallest building for roughly forty years until the completion of the World Trade Center's North Tower in 1970 to 1972. Built during the Great Depression and initially slow to fill with tenants, earning the nickname "the Empty State Building," it became one of the most recognizable Art Deco skyscrapers in the world and a defining symbol of New York City's skyline.