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
Singer Building World Trade Center towers) and the tallest to be purposely demolished by its owner. The building was commissioned by Frederick Bourne, the head of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. He hired architect Ernest Flagg, who was an early exponent of the Beaux-Arts architectural style. Flagg had also designed the company's previous headquarters at 561 Broadway between Prince and Spring Streets—in what is now the SoHo neighborhood—which was referred to as the "Little Singer Building" after the new building was erected. Plans and working drawings were prepared by George W. Conable. Flagg believed that buildings more than 10 or 15 stories