I read years ago that Stalin was so jealous of the Empire State Building he decided to build the tallest building in the world in Moscow. In digging for the foundation they could not find solid rock for a foundation base, so the project was scrapped. I think they built an indoor swimming pool instead.
Anyone else heard of it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Soviets
Stalin blew up the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, built by Tsar Alexander I to commemorate the victory of Napoleon, to make room for his Palace of the Soviets. After the fall of the Soviet Union the Cathedral was rebuilt.
The project was stopped due to the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and never restarted .