Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of the Empire State Building.
On this page
Hotel site, skyscraper and landmark
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1893
The Waldorf-Astoria
The site on Fifth Avenue is developed as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
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1929
A new plan
Empire State Inc. acquires the site and plans a skyscraper.
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17 March 1930
Construction begins
Work starts on the tower designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon.
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1 May 1931
Opening day
The Empire State Building opens, thirteen and a half months after construction began.
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1933
King Kong
The film King Kong is released, the first of more than 250 films and television series to feature the building.
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1970
No longer the tallest
The North Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out, ending the building’s time as the world’s tallest.
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1980
City landmark
The building and its ground-floor interior are designated New York City landmarks.
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1986
National Historic Landmark
The Empire State Building is designated a National Historic Landmark.
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2019
A new observatory
An indoor observatory opens on the 80th floor.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
