January 4 ... on This Day ...

On this day in 2010 the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa opened.

The landmark building dominates even Dubai’s towering skyline standing a whopping 2,722 feet (829.8 meters) tall. Known as Burj Dubai before its opening, it was renamed in honor of Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates.

The recipient of many architectural awards, the Burj Khalifa was designed by Adrain Smith (working for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill) and construction began in 2004.

The building has 163 floors, 57 escalators and 8 elevators. It has residential and commercial use and it holds a slew of building related records:
• World's longest travel distance elevators: 1,654 ft (504m)
• World's highest observation deck is on the 148th floor at 1821 ft (555 m)
• World's highest outdoor observation deck is located at 1483 ft (452m) on the 124th floor
• World's highest nightclub is found on the 144th floor
• World's highest restaurant (At.mosphere) is on the 122nd floor. Diners eat in At.mosphere 1450 ft (442m) high
• World's second highest swimming pool is on the 76th floor. The world's highest swimming pool is located on 118th floor of Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong.
• World's highest New Year display of fireworks.

The Y-shaped building sits Burj Khalifa Park which includes the impressive Dubai Fountain, and another six water features as well as gardens, ornamental pathways and flowering trees.

I wonder how long before a building will come along to replace the Burj Khalifia as the world’s tallest?

Also on this day in:

1885: Dr. William Grant performed the first successful appendectomy.

1896: Utah became the 45th U.S. state.

1936: The first pop music chart based on national sales was published by "Billboard" magazine.

1958: Sir Edmund Hillary became the first overland explorer to reach the South Pole since Captain Scott's expedition in 1912.

1967: Donald Campbell was killed attempting to break his own water speed record.

1972: Rose Heilbron became the first woman judge in Britain at the Old Bailey, London.

1999: The Euro currency debuted in 11 nations of the EU.

2006: Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first woman to hold the position.