Elisha Graves Otis (1811 to 1861) was an American industrialist who founded the Otis Elevator Company. In 1853 he invented a safety device that stops an elevator from falling if the hoisting cable fails. On 23 March 1857 he installed the first safety elevator for passenger service, in the New York City store of E.V. Haughwout and Company. His device made it practical to carry people, not only freight, on hoisted platforms, which is why he belongs in a record of how people and goods are moved, here the vertical movement inside buildings. The source lead does not detail his earlier career or the later growth of the firm, so this entry stays to what the lead states.
Facts
FAQs
Did Elisha Otis invent the elevator?
He invented the elevator safety brake in 1853; the company history presents the brake as his invention.
Not the lift itself. The Otis company's own history credits Elisha Graves Otis with the invention of the elevator safety brake, and says he sold his first elevator in 1853 following that invention. The company's account presents the brake, not the hoisting platform, as his invention.
Connections
In the Other Atlases
Same As
Also in Technology and Engineering Atlas: the same subject.
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Elisha Otis (Wikipedia)
Lead sentence, birth date
Elisha Graves Otis (August 3, 1811
Lead sentence, death date
Elisha Graves Otis (August 3, 1811, April 8, 1861) was an American industrialist
Lead sentence, description of Otis
was an American industrialist and founder of the Otis Elevator Company
In Group: Industrialists and Transport Entrepreneurs, Lead sentence
Elisha Graves Otis (August 3, 1811, April 8, 1861) was an American industrialist and founder of the Otis Elevator Company.
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