New York (and the Internet) was riveted yesterday as a 19-year-old man scaled the exterior of Trump Tower with just a harness and some suction cups. But the daring, not to mention illegal, feat was far from the first time a person has climbed a skyscraper. In fact, for some urban adventurers, the city is their climbing gym. The act, known as buildering or rooftopping, is frequently done at night and rarely done with permission. The motivation varies from political statement to pure adrenaline—or sometimes a combination of the two, particularly for frequent climbers such as Alain Robert and Dan Goodwin, who have scaled some of the world’s tallest buildings to raise awareness for a number of causes, including global warming and cancer. Explore some of the death-defying stunts performed on buildings around the world.

New York Times Building

In 2008 two men attempted to scale the New York Times Building on the same day, taking advantage of the ladderlike façade. The first was prolific French climber Alain Robert, who performed the stunt to draw attention to global warming. Later that day Renaldo Clarke of Brooklyn also made it to the top.

Woolworth Building

In 1920 George Gibson Polley, an early builderer with the nickname “the Human Fly,” attempted to summit the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan. He made it to the 30th floor of the 57-story structure before he was arrested.

Willis Tower

Dan Goodwin made his ascent of Chicago’s Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower) on May 25, 1981, dressed as Spider-Man.

432 Park Avenue

The NYPD discovered that teenager Demid Lebedev had climbed Rafael Viñoly’s still-under-construction 432 Park Avenue after he posted photos of his summit on Instagram.

World Trade Center

Climbers took on both towers of the World Trade Center. George Willig scaled the South Tower in 1977, and Dan Goodwin ascended the North Tower in 1983. Perhaps the most widely known guerrilla feat at the complex is Philippe Petit’s tightrope walk between the towers in 1974.

Trump Tower

The most recent high-profile climb was performed by 19-year-old Stephen Rogata, who tried to top Trump Tower in an attempt to meet Donald Trump . He was arrested by police at the 21st floor.

Burj Khalifa

In 2011 Robert Alain scaled the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa , in six hours. For this climb he used a rope and harness to comply with safety regulations.