History
The Prudential Tower began construction in 1960. Upon its completion in 1964, the Prudential was the tallest building in the world outside of New York City, surpassing the Terminal Tower in Cleveland, Ohio. It dwarfed the 1947 John Hancock building, seen at the left in the photo. This spurred the rival insurance company to build the 1975 John Hancock Tower, which is just slightly taller at 790 feet (240 m).
Today, the Prudential is no longer even among the fifty tallest buildings in the USA in architectural height. Within Boston, in addition to the nearby John Hancock tower, many other tall buildings have since been built in the financial district, including the 614-foot (187 m) Federal Reserve Bank. The Prudential and John Hancock towers still dominate the Back Bay skyline, but other tall buildings have arisen there since the late 1990s, perhaps most notably 111 Huntington Avenue, which is also part of the Prudential Center.
In the 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2007 Major League Baseball playoffs, the building's tenants turned on and off their lights to spell out "GO SOX", providing a visual for Boston Red Sox fans at nearby Fenway Park.
Over the past few years, the Prudential Tower has been illuminated through light-emitting diodes (LEDs), that have the capacity to create a glow near the top of the building. The lighting is used for special occasions and charitable events and can support nearly every color, including yellow, red, pink, blue, green, red, orange, gold, purple, and maroon.
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—Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
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—Albert Camus (1913–1960)