What is Skyscraper?
[[File:Empire State Building in 2006.jpg|200px|thumb|The [[Empire State Building]], [[New York City]], a famous skyscraper.]] [[File:Sears Tower ss.jpg|200px|thumb|The [[Willis Tower]], [[Chicago]], another famous skyscraper.]] A '''skyscraper''' is a very tall [[high-rise building]], usually more than 152 [[metre]]s (500 feet) in [[height]]. Most skyscrapers are built in [[urban area]]s such as [[city|cities]], and they are very common in the [[central business district]] (also called downtown) areas of many large cities including [[New York City]], [[Chicago]], [[London]], [[Paris]], [[Sydney]], [[Beijing]], [[Berlin]], [[Toronto]], [[Moscow]], [[Hong Kong]] and [[Tokyo]]. Skyscrapers are common in [[downtown]] districts where it's more economical to build up instead of out. {{Commons|Skyscraper}} == History == Originally, the word '''skyscraper''' meant a tall [[sail]] on a sailing [[ship]]. Over time, the word's meaning has changed, and today it means a tall building. Until the nineteenth century, buildings taller than six stories tall were not common. Tall buildings made of weak materials would fall down. In addition, people did not like walking up many steps and running [[water]] could only be brought up to fifty feet (15m) high. Better [[technology]] helped make skyscrapers more common. Stronger building materials such as [[steel]] and [[reinforced concrete]] were developed, so stronger buildings could be made. Water [[pump]]s brought water up to heights above fifty feet. The first building to be considered a skyscraper, the [[Home Insurance Building]], was built in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]] in the [[United States]], and was designed by [[William LeBaron Jenney]]. The building, ten stories high, was built from 1884 to 1885. It was destroyed in 1931 because they wanted to build another building in its previous place. In the same year the Home Insurance Building was destroyed, one of the oldest and most famous skyscrapers, the [[Empire State Building]], opened in New York City. Later in the [[20th cen