NEW YORK, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The Empire State Building on Monday celebrated its 75th birthday as one of New York's most enduring landmarks, with a variety of events.

    A year-long celebration is planned for the building, including monthly light shows, said Lydia Ruth, spokeswoman for the corporation that runs the building.

    On Sunday night, the lights on top of the building will be dark to show what the skyline looked like before it was built. For the rest of the week they will shine white, the color of the first lights to glow on top of it.

    Construction of the building was one of the most remarkable feats of the 20th century. It took only a little more than 13 months to put up the tower, which remains the world record for building a skyscraper. Some 3,400 workers, many of them desperate for work at the height of the Great Depression, participated in the construction. The work force was made up largely of immigrants, along with hundreds of Mohawk Indian iron workers.

    The 436-meter tower opened on May 1, 1931, with President Herbert Hoover pressing a button in Washington to turn on its lights. Architect William Lamb, the chief designer, messaged former New York Governor Ai Smith from a ship at sea: "One day out and I can still see the building."

    Built of steel and aluminum and faced with granite and Indiana limestone, it was the city's tallest until the Twin Towers were built, and it regained that title following the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001. Enditem