History of the world's tallest buildings
The buildings that were the tallest secular skyscrapers, which excludes religious buildings, were:
The list of tallest buildings is based on the default metric of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), that of measuring to the highest architectural element. Other criteria would generate a different list. Shanghai World Financial Center is not on the above list, but it surpassed Taipei 101 in 2008 to become the building with the highest occupied floor. Using the criteria of highest tip (including antennae), the World Trade Center in New York City was the world's tallest building from 1972 to 2000, until the Sears Tower in Chicago (which already had a higher occupied floor than the World Trade Center) had its antenna extended to give that building the world's tallest tip; a title it held until the 2010 completion of Burj Khalifa. Petronas Towers and Taipei 101 were never the world's tallest buildings by the highest–tip criteria.
List of tallest buildings in Washington, D.C.
This list of tallest buildings in Washington, D.C. ranks high-rises in the U.S. capital city of Washington, D.C. The tallest structure in the city, excluding radio towers, is the Washington Monument, which rises and was completed in 1884. The structure, however, is not generally considered a high-rise building as it does not have successive floors that can be occupied. The tallest habitable building in the city is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which rises . The second-tallest building in Washington is the Old Post Office Building, which is high. The third-tallest building in the city is the Washington National Cathedral, which rises above grade. The cathedral is built on high ground known as Mount St. Alban, above sea level, which makes the central tower the "highest" point in the District. As of November 2011, there are 410 completed high-rises in the city.