Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia. Elisha Otis's elevator patent drawing, By Olivia B. Get our History Newsletter. Put today's news in context and see highlights from the archives. Please enter a valid email address. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now. Podcast: The Promise of Hydrogen. ASME Membership 1 year has been added to your cart. The price of yearly membership depends on a number of factors, so final price will be calculated during checkout. Mark Crawford is an independent writer.
Related Content. Continue Browsing View Cart. You are now leaving ASME. As the crowds screamed in horror, Otis fell for only a second or two before reassuring them, "All safe, ladies and gentlemen, all safe.
A ceaseless tinkerer created the first safe elevator, then died before he could see it revolutionize architecture, cities, and the way we live. Mechanically Inclined Although the concept of a powered hoist had been around for some time, Elisha Otis designed the first elevator that could lift and lower people and cargo safely. Born to a Vermont farmer in , young Elisha preferred hanging around the blacksmith's forge to working on the farm. Josiah Maize needed a hoist to lift heavy equipment to the upper floor, but traditional hoists had inherent safety problems.
Otis created a superior device, a tough, steel wagon-spring meshing with a ratchet, and so created the elevator brake. The inventor ascended in an elevator inside an open-sided shaft. Halfway up, he had the hoisting cable cut with an axe.
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