When the Tell Qaramel was constructed in present-day Syria it was the tallest man-made freestanding structure in the world. Built in 10,000 B.C., it was 14 feet high.
The Tower of Jericho, constructed two thousand years later, took the title of world's tallest structure, topping out at 28 feet tall.
By 2650 B.C. the first major Egyptian pyramid reached 203 feet; with the completion of the Pyramid of Giza (in 2560 B.C.), the record climbed 481 feet. This record would stand for more than 3500 years until Lincoln Cathedral's 525-foot spire rose in 1311.
Over the next 700 years, other structures have overtaken one another as the world's tallest. Notre Dame, the Washington Monument, the Eiffel Tower, the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, and the CN Tower have all held the post. Currently, Burj Khalifa tops the list at just over 2,700 feet.
The existence of Burj Kahlifa doesn't make the Pyramid at Giza less tall, though one dwarfs the other. They're part of an evolution - a lineage of excellence - that reflects human desire and capacity over time. Such is the History Of the Highest Freestanding Man-made Structure(s) In the World.
The Old Course hosted its first play in the first half of the fifteenth century. It was the greatest golf course in the world.
At what point was it replaced, and by what place? And what replaced that, and when? What is the History Of the Greatest Golf Course(s) In the World?
Any such list would begin with the Old Course and would end with the current "greatest." Between would be the "greatests," in the contexts of their own times and places.
What courses make up such a list? The roster might be much shorter than we think, not because there are few great courses, but because there can only be one greatest.
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