Born on August 3
Elisha Otis's Birthday
The brake that let cities rise.
Next: August 3, 2027
Where it comes from
Elisha Graves Otis was born near Halifax, Vermont, on 3 August 1811, and this Story marks his birthday. He did not invent the lift, or elevator. He invented the safety brake that made it fit for people.
How it's celebrated
There is no organised observance, but the next time you step into a lift, you are riding on his idea: without safe lifts, skyscrapers would not be practical. The store that had his first passenger lift, the Haughwout Building, still stands at Broadway and Broome Street in New York.
Did you know
At the Crystal Palace exhibition in New York in 1854, Otis rode his platform high into the air and had the rope cut with an axe; it dropped only a few inches.
Read the full story of Elisha Otis's Birthday
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