[maj0rhn]

It's a Johnny-come-lately. Every day going to work I used to drive by the "Shot Tower" in downtown Baltimore, USA (it's still there, I'm not), built in 1828 to make various types of spherical ammunition, including cannonballs. Wikipedia lists some even older shot towers. The Baltimore tower was for many years the tallest structure in America.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_tower

[DangerousPie]

Shot tower != drop tower tough. I'm not familiar with shot towers, but based on the wiki page they just seem to be tall towers that are used to produce ammunition.

Drop towers are used to conduct scientific experiments and require a lot of precise engineering to work properly. So for example they need to have a double-wall to keep the inner tube still, and have vacuum pumps to remove air from the inside.