This 1,454 ft behemoth was architected by Sherve, Lamb and Harmon and started construction on March 17, 1930. (it broke ground on January 22 that same year) It took only 15 months to build, as opposed to the original idea of 18 months. It opened on May 1, 1931. Its opening was in a bad time, as the Great Depression was starting and had empty floors. It was sold to Charles F. Noyes & Company for $51,000,000 in 1951.
6 years before this, on July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber with Lt. Colonel William Franklin Smith, Jr. crashed into the north face of the tower. It was between the 79 and 80 floors. One engine of the bomber ripped through the building and set fire to a neighboring penthouse. The second fell down an elevator shaft and dropped 75 stories. This event holds the Guinness World Record for longest elevator drop. Even though 14 were lost, the building reopened for business.
6 years before this, on July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber with Lt. Colonel William Franklin Smith, Jr. crashed into the north face of the tower. It was between the 79 and 80 floors. One engine of the bomber ripped through the building and set fire to a neighboring penthouse. The second fell down an elevator shaft and dropped 75 stories. This event holds the Guinness World Record for longest elevator drop. Even though 14 were lost, the building reopened for business.
The tower had over thirty suicide attempts, two or three who survived by landing on the 85 floor from the 86. Two mass shootings took place here—one in 1997, and another in 2012. The Empire State Building is both still a New York marvel, and a worldwide one.
