Empire State Building in New York City. Originally the building was designed to have a flat roof and be just a tad higher than the Chrysler building. But the designers wanted to decisively exceed the height of the Chrysler building and so they designed a new pinnacle for the structure which they intended would be used as a dock for airships.
The dock proved to be unworkable (so did airships for that matter), but the soaring spire turned out to be an excellent radio and television antenna. In addition, it gave the building its distinctive look that kept it a New York City landmark long after it had been surpassed as the tallest building in the world.
On the other side of the coin is the tragic story of the S.S. Eastland. In the wake of the H.M.S. Titanic accident, laws were passed which required all ships to have sufficient life rafts for all passengers. Ironically, the Eastland, which was already somewhat unstable, could not bear the weight of the additional rafts and in 1915 the ship capsized in the dock drowning more than 800 people in the Chicago River.
i love this kind of stuff...