On this day in 1931, New York City’s iconic Empire State Building opened to the public. From Washington D.C., President Herbert Hoover flipped a switch and lit up the skyline with promise.

Envisioned by investor John Raskob and former New York governor Al Smith, the 102-story skyscraper was constructed in just 410 days. “A building designed, fashioned, built by the brains, the brawn, the ingenuity, and the muscle of mankind,” Smith proclaimed at the dedication.

Architect William Lamb reflected proudly, “One day out and I can still see the building.”

Imagine the scene: over 3,400 workers rising into the clouds during the depths of the Great Depression—steel in hand, courage in heart. Balanced like acrobats on girders, they built upward, floor by floor, averaging more than four stories a week.

The Empire State Building is more than a feat of engineering; it’s a monument to determination, a poem in steel and sky. Forged in hard times, it stretched upward with the strength of human spirit, lifting not just a skyline but a generation’s hope.

Writer John Tauranac once said it seemed “to float above the city... like a ballerina jumping into the air.” The building became legend—graced by films, crowned in light, and visited by millions. From its 86th-floor view, the city sprawls in all directions, reminding us of life’s sky-high possibilities.