HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDINGS (Since the 20th Century)

The skyscraper was invented in Chicago in 1884. For the next hundred years, the world's tallest building was always in the United States with New York City accumulating 87 years, and Chicago accumulating 30 years. After just over a century (1885–1998) the distinction moved to the Eastern Hemisphere. Malaysia was the first country to break United States's record of building tallest buildings in the world by building Petronas Twin Towers in 1998, which held the record for 6 years before losing it to Taipei 101 in 2004. Before the current era of commercial skyscrapers, there was an era where the tallest buildings were Christian churches/cathedrals (c. 1250–1901), dominated by England and Germanic territories.

The earliest structures now known to be the tallest in the world were the Egyptian pyramids, with the Great Pyramid of Giza, at an original height of 146.5 metres (481 ft), being the tallest man–made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1300. From then until the completion of the Washington Monument (capped in 1884) the world's tallest buildings were churches or cathedrals. Later, the Eiffel Tower and, still later, some radio masts and television towers were the world's tallest structures.

However, though all of these are structures, some are not buildings in the sense of being regularly inhabited or occupied. It is in this sense of being regularly inhabited or occupied that the term "building" is generally understood to mean when determining what is the world's tallest building. The non-profit international organization Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which maintains a set of criteria for determining the height of tall buildings, defines a "building" as "(A) structure that is designed for residential, business or manufacturing purposes" and "has floors".

Since 2010, Burj Khalifa has been the tallest building by any criteria. It has the highest architectural element, tip and occupied floor, and is indeed the tallest structure of any kind ever built, surpassing the (now destroyed) 646.38 metres (2,120.7 ft) Warsaw Radio Mast.

Since the completion of the Washington Monument in 1884, the world's tallest building has not usually also been the world's tallest structure. The exceptions are 1930–1954, when the Chrysler Building and then the Empire State building surpassed the Eiffel Tower (to be surpassed in turn by a succession of broadcast masts, starting with the Griffin Television Tower in Oklahoma), and from 2010 with the completion of Burj Khalifa.

Here you see an overview of the tallest building in the world since the start of the 20th century. TV towers, masts, and other building types are not included.

10 Tallest Buildings in London, ENGLAND

This list of the tallest buildings and structures in London ranks skyscrapers and towers in London by their height. Since 2010, the tallest structure in London has been The Shard, which was topped out at 309.6 metres (1,016 ft), making it the tallest habitable building in Europe at the time. The second tallest is One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, which rises 235 metres (771 ft) and was completed in 1991. The third tallest is the Heron Tower in the City of London financial district, which was topped out in 2010 and stands at a height of 230 metres (755 ft), including its spire.

The Greater London area is currently about level with the Paris Metropolitan Area as the metropolitan area in the European Union with the most skyscrapers. As of 2016, there are 18 skyscrapers in London that reach a roof height of at least 150 metres (492 ft), with 19 in Paris (compared to 15 in Frankfurt, eleven in Warsaw and five each in Madrid and Milan).

10 Tallest Buildings in the United States

The world's first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Since that time, the United States has been home and still is home to some of the world's tallest skyscrapers. New York City, specifically the borough of Manhattan, notably has the tallest skyline in the country. Eleven American buildings have held the title oftallest building in the world (9 in New York City). New York City and Chicago have always been the centers of American skyscraper building. The 10-story Home Insurance Building, built in Chicago in 1885, is regarded as the world's first skyscraper; the building was constructed using a novel steel-loadbearing frame which became a standard of the industry worldwide.

As of 2013, One World Trade Center, also referred by the symbolic name of "Freedom Tower", in New York City was considered to be the tallest skyscraper in the United States. Its antenna brings the structure to a symbolic height of 1,776 feet (541 m), connoting the year The Declaration of Independence was signed, though the tip of the structure actually is measured at 1,792 ft (546 m). However, using the more common criterion for the height of a building (the roof, not antenna) the observation deck elevation and highest occupied floor of the One World Trade Center are surpassed by Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower). and 432 Park Ave.

Prior to the September 11, 2001 in New York City, the twin towers of the World Trade Center occupied the second and third positions on the list below, behind Willis Tower. The North Tower stood at 1,368 feet (417 m), while the South Tower was 1,362-foot-tall (415 m). If they were still standing today, they would occupy the fourth and fifth positions on the list below.

There are numerous supertall buildings both proposed and under construction throughout the country, concentrated in New York City and Chicago. Projects in New York include the Central Park Tower and 111 West 57th Street, while in Chicago, proposed structures include the Wanda Vista Tower, which will be approximately 95 stories and about 1,144 feet (349 m) tall; Wolf Point along the Chicago River; and a Rafael Vinoly-designed tower. Other tall buildings that are either proposed or under construction include the 1,121 feet (342 m) Comcast Innovation and Technology Center in Philadelphia, the 1,100 feet (340 m) Wilshire Grand Tower in Los Angeles, the 1,070 feet (330 m) Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, and the 1,010 feet (310 m) One Bayfront Plaza in Miami.

10 Tallest Tower in the World

This is a list of extant towers that fulfill the engineering definition of a tower "a tall man-made structure, always taller than it is wide, meant for public or regular operational access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are self-supporting or free-standing, which means no guy-wires for support." The definition means the exclusion from this list of continuously habitable buildings and skyscrapers as well as radio and TV masts. Also excluded from this list because they are not designed for public or regular operational access are Bridge towers or pylons, chimneys, transmission towers, sculptures and most large statues and obelisks.

Towers are most often built to use their height for various purposes and can stand alone or as part of a larger structure. Some common purposes are for telecommunications, and as a viewing platform.

10 Tallest Buildings in The World

The international non-profit organization Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) was formed in 1969 and announces the title of "The World's Tallest Building" and sets the standards by which buildings are measured. It maintains a list of the 100 tallest completed buildings in the world. The organization currently ranks Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the tallest at 828 m (2,717 ft). The CTBUH only recognizes buildings that are complete, however, and some buildings listed within these list articles are not considered complete by the CTBUH.

In 1996, as a response to the dispute as to whether the Petronas Towers or the Sears Tower was taller, the council listed and ranked buildings in four categories:

• height to structural or architectural top;
• height to floor of highest occupied floor;
• height to top of roof (removed as category in November 2009); and
• height to top of any part of the building.

This list of tallest buildings in the world ranks skyscrapers by height. Only buildings with continuously occupiable floors are included, thus non-building structures, including towers, are not included.

10 Deadliest Snipers of World War II

Sniper is a highly trained sharpshooter who hits the target from concealed positions and some distances. A sniper generally operates alone with a special precision rifle and some sort of communication devices.

The word ‘sniper’ and the verb ‘to snipe’ originated among the troopers in the 1770s in British India where it was an extremely difficult task to hunt the migratory Snipe bird (Gallinago gallinago) due to its camouflage feather patterns and erratic flight patterns. The phrase ‘Going on a snipe hunt’ is used by experienced people to make fun of novices by giving them virtually an impossible task.

In addition to sharpshooting, military snipers are also trained in infiltration, field craft, camouflage, surveillance, reconnaissance and target locating. During the WWII, the Soviet snipers played a remarkable role on the Eastern Front. The Russian snipers generally used the standard Mosin-Nagant 1891 model rifles with optical PU Scope (Scope short cut), 7.62×54mmR rifle cartridges, armor piercing B-30 shells, tracer bullets and calibrated incendiary (P3). They used to carry 120 rifle cartridges as combat load. Unlike other countries, women were also recruited by Soviet Union as snipers and there were over 2,000 women snipers operating in 1943. Soviet Union was also the only country that trained snipers on purpose in the decade leading up to WWII and their superiority in the following list of top 10 most lethal snipers of World War II is clearly visible. 9 out of 10 in this list are Soviet snipers and 1 Finnish sniper.