When and where was the first modern skyscraper erected?

Answer 1

First Modern Skyscraper

The first skyscraper was the ten-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago, built in 1884-1885. While its height is not considered unusual or very impressive today, the architect, Major William Le Baron Jenney, created the first load-carrying structural frame. In this building, a steel frame supported the entire weight of the walls instead of the walls themselves carrying the weight of the building which was the usual method. This development led to the "Chicago skeleton" form of construction. After Jenney's accomplishment the sky was truly the limit so far as building was concerned.

Surprisingly for some, the United Kingdom also had its share of early skyscrapers. The first building to fit the engineering definition meanwhile was the then largest hotel in the world, the Grand Midland Hotel, now known as St Pancras Chambers in London, completed in 1873 with a clock tower 82 metres (269 feet) in height. The 12-floor Shell Mex House in London, at 58 metres (190 feet), was completed a year after the Home Insurance Building and managed to beat it in both height and floor count. 1877 saw the opening of the Gothic revival style Manchester Town Hall by Alfred Waterhouse. Its 87-metre-high clock and bell tower dominated that city's skyline for almost a century.

Answer 2

The first skyscraper was the Drateldium in ancient Rome. It was 60,000 feet.