October 1st, 1976

The CN Tower (French: Tour CN) is a 553.3 m-high (1,815.3 ft) concrete communications and observation tower located in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name “CN” originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower.

The construction of the tower had started in February 1973 and opened to the public on June 26, 1976. It was officially opened to the world on 1st October 1976. It held the title of tallest man-made structure on land for over 30 years till the Burj Khalifa in Dubai overtook it.

The CN Tower held the record for the world’s tallest free-standing structure for 32 years until 2007 when it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa, and was the world’s tallest tower until 2009 when it was surpassed by the Canton Tower. It is now the ninth tallest free-standing structure in the world and remains the tallest free-standing structure on land in the Western Hemisphere. In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It also belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers.

The original concept of the CN Tower originated in 1968 when the Canadian National Railway wanted to build a large TV and radio communication platform to serve the Toronto area, as well as demonstrate the strength of Canadian industry and CN in particular. These plans evolved over the next few years, and the project became official in 1972.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

When the CN Tower opened in 1976, there were three public observation points: the SkyPod (then known as the Space Deck) that stands at 447 m (1,467 ft), the Indoor Observation Level (later named Indoor Lookout Level) at 346 m (1,135 ft), and the Outdoor Observation Terrace (at the same level as the Glass Floor) at 342 m (1,122 ft). One floor above the Indoor Observation Level was the Top of Toronto Restaurant, which completed a revolution once every 72 minutes.