The Shanghai Tower has boasted many world records — including the world’s fastest elevators, and the largest hotel and restaurant — but the skyscraper is also notable for the one record it has never held. The 128-story, 2,073-foot tower is the world’s tallest building that was never at any time the tallest on Earth.

Standing 1,047 feet tall, Melbourne’s Australia 108 is the Southern Hemisphere’s tallest residential building. The 100-story skyscraper also notably features a gold star encircling the tower’s curvy, irregular shape about two-thirds of the way up. The star represents the Commonwealth Star featured on the Australian flag.

The Abraj Al-Bait Complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, features several connected towers, a series of five-star hotels, and the largest clock face in the world. The clock, part of the Makkah Royal Clock Tower, measures 141 feet in diameter and uses 21,000 green and white LED lights along with speakers to issue a call to prayer five times each day. The total complex reaches 1,972 feet high, making it the third-tallest building in the world.

The U.S. dominated the “world’s tallest building” title throughout the 20th century, until 1996. New York’s Singer Building, Metropolitan Life Tower, Woolworth Building, Bank of Manhattan Trust Building, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, and World Trade Center all held the title at different points in time. Chicago’s Sears Tower and John Hancock Center also once held the title, as did Philadelphia’s City Hall from 1901 to 1908.

Once the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101 was built near a major faultline in an earthquake zone and is frequently subjected to typhoon-strength winds. Because of this, Taipei 101 uses a “tuned mass damper,” which is a 728-ton, 18-foot-wide ball suspended by hydraulics that sways in the opposite direction of the tower to stabilize the building. The globe is suspended between the 87th and 92nd floors and viewable from observation decks.

Standing almost 850 feet high, Frankfurt, Germany’s Commerzbank Tower takes the shape of an equilateral triangle, with slightly rounded points and slightly convex sides. The tower opened in 1997 and was the tallest building in Europe for six years until it was surpassed by Triumph-Palace in Moscow. As of 2023, the tower is the second-tallest in the European Union behind Poland’s Varso Tower.

Dubbed “the Coffee Stirrer” by the Guardian, New York’s Steinway Tower at 111 West 57th Street is the world’s skinniest skyscraper, as of 2023. The 84-story building stands 1,428 feet tall and measures only 60 feet wide (a 24:1 height-to-width ratio). The building got its name because it was once the home of the Steinway & Sons piano company.

Twice a year, Toronto’s CN Tower opens up the stairs for fundraising events, allowing people to climb all 1,776 steps over 144 flights to the top. If you make it all the way, you deserve a drink — and you can get one from 360 Restaurant’s cellar in the sky, which Guinness World Records recognizes as the world’s highest wine cellar. The skybound cellar holds 9,000 bottles and is climate controlled to resemble underground cellars.

The elevator journey to the top of Toronto’s CN Tower takes just 58 seconds, but if you happen to look down while riding, you’ll be able to see 1,135 feet straight to the ground. The glass-floored elevators were the first of their kind when they were installed in 1994 and are still the tallest in the world.

If you want to take in Shanghai’s sprawling skyline, Shanghai Tower has the best view in town. The skyscraper features a 1,841-foot-high observation deck, which holds the Guinness World Record for the tallest in the world. Completed in 2015, the skyscraper also features the world’s fastest elevator, taking just 55 seconds to climb 118 floors.

Santiago, Chile, is home to South America’s tallest building, the Gran Torre Santiago, which stands 984 feet. That’s almost three times shorter than the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa at 2,722 feet, which just goes to show how impressive the structure in Dubai is. Construction on the Chilean skyscraper began in 2006 and wrapped up in 2013.

One of the most iconic sights along the Dubai skyline is the Burj al Arab, which was designed to resemble an Arabian sailing ship. The Burj al Arab stands 1,050 feet tall, making it one of the world’s largest buildings used exclusively as a hotel. It also features a deck that extends out over the Persian Gulf and is larger than a FIFA regulation soccer field.

One World Trade Center was built to a height of 1,776 feet to commemorate the year the Declaration of Independence was signed. In May 2013, a spire was completed atop the building, also known as the Freedom Tower, stretching its 1,368-foot-high roof to the current height. That was tall enough to dethrone Chicago’s Willis Tower as the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

For nearly 25 years, Chicago’s Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) was the world’s tallest building. Although it’s no longer even the tallest in North America, the tower does have the highest public viewing area in the U.S. On a clear day, you can see about 40 to 50 miles out over Illinois and its neighboring states of Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

When the Petronas Towers were completed in 1996, they became the world’s tallest buildings, beating out the Willis Tower. While they lost that title in 2003, they are still the world’s tallest twin buildings as of 2023. Standing 1,482 feet tall, the towers feature 88 stories of occupiable space, but they only were given the title of tallest twin towers after 242-foot spires were added to their pinnacles.

In 2003, Prince Charles likened the London skyline to an “absurdist picnic table” after “The Gherkin,” named for its resemblance to a pickled cucumber, had just been completed. The Olympic Velodrome’s curved roof later earned it the nickname “Pringle,” and the wedge-shaped Leadenhall Building is called “The Cheesegrater.” However, there isn’t a “trifle” among those skyscrapers — yet.

Standing one foot taller than the Shard in London, the tallest building in Europe outside of Russia is the Varso Tower in Warsaw, Poland. Completed in 2022, the Varso Tower stands 1,017 feet tall, with a panoramic terrace and restaurant on the 53rd floor. The tower — now the tallest in the EU — was named after Varsovia, the Latin name for Warsaw.

The tallest skyscraper in Europe is the Lakhta Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia, but six of the top 10 tallest buildings on the continent are found in Moscow. Moscow’s Federation Tower, OKO Residential Tower, Neva Towers, and Mercury City round out Europe’s top five tallest towers, and the City of Capitals building registers as Europe’s tallest twin towers.

The timing of the Empire State Building’s opening couldn’t have been worse. Filling the building’s offices proved extremely difficult due to the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression. For most of the 1930s, the owners kept the lights on in these upper floors so they’d appear occupied. Occupancy finally increased after World War II.

The Burj Khalifa has held the title of world’s tallest building since 2010, but it still has a ways to go to match the Willis Tower’s 25-year hold on the title. However, the skyscraper to hold the title for the longest amount of time is the Empire State Building, which was the world’s tallest building for 40 years from 1931 until 1971.

After 410 days of construction, the Empire State Building opened in 1931 — the first skyscraper to exceed 100 floors. The building was initially completed at 1,050 feet, but when the neighboring Chrysler Building aimed for the “world’s tallest” title, a 200-foot mooring mast (ostensibly for blimps) was tacked on the Empire State Building to retain its position, which it held until 1972.

Rebuilding after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, architects in the city started to utilize materials other than wood, relying instead on steel, iron, and stone. William LeBaron Jenney designed the record-breaking Home Insurance Building, which boasted a steel frame and was 10 stories tall. The world’s first skyscraper, it stood until 1931, when the Field Building took its place.

Since 2010, Dubai’s 2,717-foot-tall Burj Khalifa has held the title for tallest building in the world. American architect Adrian Smith led the record-breaking construction project, which took six years to complete. The Burj Khalifa exceeds the previous record holder, Taipei 101, by about the size of the Eiffel Tower, which itself was the world’s largest structure upon its completion in 1889.

Chicago’s 110-story building located at 233 S. Wacker Drive may now be officially known as the Willis Tower, but many locals still refer to it as the Sears Tower. When construction on the building was completed in 1973, the Sears Tower became the world’s tallest skyscraper and held that title for 25 years, until it was dethroned by the Petronas Towers. It was renamed Willis Tower after an insurance company in 2009.

China towers above the world in volume of skyscrapers — the country has more than 3,000 buildings taller than 150 meters (490 feet). China is home to some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, including five out of the world’s 10 tallest buildings. Shanghai Tower stands at 2,073 feet — second tallest in the world after Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.