History of the world's tallest buildings <nowiki>*</nowiki> – Also set record at time of completion as tallest building ever built. The height of Lincoln Cathedral is disputed by some, but accepted by most sources. The completion date for the spire is given as 1311 rather than 1300 by some sources. Also the height of the spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral, destroyed by lightning in 1561, is disputed, for example Christopher Wren (1632–1723) judged that an overestimate and gave a height of . The spire of Mole Antonelliana in Turin, completed in 1889, is claimed to have been tall; however, the upper part of the structure
History of the world's tallest buildings a "building" as "(A) structure that is designed for residential, business or manufacturing purposes" and "has floors". Tall churches and cathedrals occupy a middle ground: their lower areas are regularly occupied, but much of their height is in bell towers and spires which are not. Whether a church or cathedral is a "building" or merely a "structure" for the purposes of determining the title of "world's tallest building" is a subjective matter of definition (this article treats churches and cathedrals as buildings). The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat based in Chicago uses three different criteria for determining the