Currently, all of us use the elevator on a daily basis, and on occasion we have wondered who this invention is due to, so it is time to learn more about the history of the elevator. Well, its origin dates back to the 19th century at the hands of Elisha Otis. It was he who invented the elevator with a safety brake , although it was only used to raise and lower loads as it was considered dangerous for people.
Origin of the elevator
The first reference dates from the year 236 BC The Roman architect Vitruvius maintains that Archimedes had built an elevator. There are also mentions of booths supported by hemp rope and powered by animals or by hand in a Sinai monastery.
Ancient and medieval elevators used traction systems based on the mechanism of a crane . The forklift inspired Elisha Otis to develop an elevator with a toothed system that, in the event that the guy wire was cut, cushioned the fall.
But who was Elisha Otis? A mechanic by profession, he worked in a box spring factory. In 1852 he designed an elevator to raise and lower material equipped with an advanced braking system . At first it barely sold three units.
However, he did not give up, and in 1854 he gave a demonstration at the Crystal Palace in New York . He got on the elevator and, when it was at a considerable height, he told a co-worker to cut the rope. Although the audience was shocked, the platform only dropped a few inches.
This is how, little by little, the society of the mid-nineteenth century began to trust the elevator. The first large order Elisha Otis received was a commercial elevator for EW Haughtwhat’s Broadway department store . Sales quickly rose and with it Elisha Otis’ fame.
Development of cities
The elevator can be considered one of the most important inventions in history since without it cities would not be as we know them today since skyscrapers would not exist.
The first elevators were powered by steam machinery and were very noisy . Almost no one dared to climb on them, and people preferred to go up and down the stairs. Then came the hydraulics and finally the electric ones, which put an end to the problem of speed and precision.
