Burj Dubai

The Eiffel Tower, completed 1889, was the first man-made structure to exceed 1000 feet; its height is 1063 feet.Taipei 101 has, until today, held the record as the tallest inhabited building in the world, at 1667 feet. It was completed in 2003, and was the first building to surpass the half-kilometer mark. (Burj Dubai actually passed its height in July of 2007)
Burj Dubai, which opens today, tops out at 2717 feet. Which is just shorter than what you'd get if you stacked the Eiffel Tower on top of Taipei 101.
(Charles Crowell/Bloomberg)

There's an old joke... two drunks are pissing off a bridge, and one looks over at the other and says "Water's cold tonight." The second looks back at at him and says, "Mmmhmm. Deep, too."

This building strikes me as having something in common with that joke, but I have to admit, I'm impressed. You couldn't pay me enough to go up on the observation deck (I got woozy from the video posted from the crow's nest a while back), but I'm impressed. Here's a few links for more info: NYT (highlight: video of the fireworks celebrating the opening), a gallery of photos of the construction from BBC, and another gallery of photos of the finished product from Der Spiegel, along with a story containing a sort of mind blowing quote from the engineering firm that designed it: "I would think we could easily do a one kilometer building."

Wholly Wow.

Trivia fun: The Great Pyramid of Giza was about 480 feet tall when completed; its current hight is about 455 feet. It is believed to have been completed about 2551 BC, and was the tallest man-made object in the world for over 3800 years. It was exceeded by Lincoln Cathedral in England in 1311 AD.