Located at 350 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, standing 448 metres tall at the tip of its broadcast antennae/lightning rod is the Empire State Building. On its opening day on May 1, 1931 during the height of the depression, it was affectionately dubbed The Empty State Building due to an initial lack of tenants. Aside from being an instantly recognizable monument and an excellent navigational aid, it has been featured in countless movies including the original King Kong and Sleepless in Seattle.
It was designed by architects Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates. The exterior is Indiana limestone and granite trimmed with chrome-nickel steel from the 6th floor right up to the top.
The top floors are seasonally lit, reflecting holidays and special occasions. This tradition began in 1977 in honor of the New York Yankees becoming Baseball World Champions.
On July 28, 1945 in very thick fog, a B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft got lost and smacked full speed into the 78th and 79th floor, killing 14 people and injuring several others as the interior of the building became engulfed in flames. The building itself never flinched at the impact though, a testament to the superior engineering that went into this skyscraping masterpiece.
Note: a writeup similar to this was originally submitted by perdedor. It was rewritten and submitted by me for the sake of database completeness and the fact that other writeups in this node refers to this one.