Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building is perhaps the most popular skyscraper in the city of New York and one of the most iconic towers worldwide.
Built in 1931, the Empire State Building now stands as the fourth tallest building in the world and is a known symbol of the Art Deco era. If you're considering visiting this timeless landmark on your next trip to New York City, here are three wild facts to know.
It was made during a race to create the world's tallest building.
The Empire State Building played a significant role in the early 20th century. At the time it was constructed, builders in New York were engaged in an unofficial race to create the world's largest skyscraper.
At the front of the pack were the Empire State Building, backed by General Motors executive John J. Raskob and former New York Governor Al Smith; and the Chrysler Building, a structure conceived by car mogul Walter Chrysler. At the end of the race, the Chrysler Building soared to 1,048 feet, whole the Empire State Building stood at 1,250 feet.
The Empire State Building remained the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years until the first World Trade Center tower was completed in 1970.
The building's upper mast was once designed as a mooring mast for airships.
During its early days, the Empire State Building's upper mast was intended to serve as a docking port for airships. Here's how it was supposed to work: The airships would tether themselves to the Empire State Building's 200-foot tower using a winching apparatus. Airship passengers would then exit via an open-air gangplank and make their way to the streets of Manhattan.
However, the plan never came to fruition due to the high winds at the top of the building, which made it impossible for pilots to navigate the airships, according to History.com.
A woman fell 75 stories in one of the building's elevators and survived.
On the morning of July 28, 1945, an Army B-25 bomber plowed into the building's 78th and 70th floors, triggering a massive explosion. Some debris from the B-25 bomber entered an elevator shaft, severing cables for two elevator cars-one of which contained 19-year-old elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver. Her car plunged from the 75th floor into the subbasement, where more than a thousand feet of severed elevator cable had gathered, which may have helped cushion the blow. Oliver survived the fall despite serious injuries, including a broken back and neck.
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