I’ve always enjoyed the personal stories of what used to be called “Men in History.” That phrase never offended me; I always knew there were “Women in History” too. For every Chinggis Khan, there’s (at least one) Mrs. Chinggis Khan, and who knows what he’d not have achieved if it hadn’t been for her (or for “She” as the grammar police would have it.)
Today is the 213th birthday of Elisha Otis, who was born on August 3, 1811, in Halifax, Vermont.
Hardly a household name.
Originally a wagon and carriage maker, Elisha eventually moved his small family to Albany, New York, where he worked in a bedstead factory, with an increasingly important sideline in the invention of labor-saving devices.
In 1852 he was sent to Yonkers, New York, where he turned his attention to the “safety hoist,” equipping the new “elevator” technology with a means to automatically kick in and stop the lift from falling to the ground if the mechanism controlling it were to fail.
In 1854, he took the risk of showing off his invention at the World Exhibition at New York’s Crystal Palace, by riding his elevator high into the air and then ordering the engineers controlling it to cut the rope holding it up.
Success! (Otherwise–not a joke–this would be a very different post.)
After Elisha’s death, his sons, Charles and Norton, carried on with his nascent business which eventually became the “Otis Elevator Company”
I cannot count the number of times I’ve stepped safely into an elevator (mostly during my 30+ years of working life) and seen the “OTIS” branded plate on the wall or on the floor. And I cannot even imagine the hundreds of millions, very likely billions of people who’ve done the same, just as safely, every day, all over the world, for the past 170 years.
What a astonishing legacy for just one man.
A most uplifting post. How different our cities would look without this marvellous invention.
Thank you. I agree!
“A most uplifiting post,” I see what you did there. LOL.