A short history of the world's tallest buildings
by from CNN.com - RSS Channel - App International Edition on (#5H0EC)
When New York's Equitable Life Building opened in 1870, the businessman behind the project, Henry Baldwin Hyde, was berated for having delusions of grandeur. Costing more than $4 million (around $81 million in today's money), his insurance company's headquarters soared a then-astonishing seven stories above the streets of Manhattan.