Progress in building techniques triggered a race among architects to see who could erect the tallest structures - which in time became known as [L3 402 / skyscrapers]. In the first decade of the 20th century, the Metropolitan Insurance Company built a 700-foot tower on Wall Street. A businessman named Frank W Woolworth, founder of the famous "5 & 10" stores, applied to Metropolitan for a loan, but was turned down. He found financing elsewhere, and - perhaps out of revenge against Metropolitan - ordered the construction of the Woolworth Tower, a building which was completed in 1913 and which reached a height of 792 feet - 92 feet taller than his rival's structure.
