The history of the elevator goes back to the mid-19th century.  There were many types of hydraulic elevators in operation in the 1850s that carried freight, but passenger elevators were not attempted because early elevators lacked reliability.  The main issue with early elevators was safety; the cables which carried elevator cabs often snapped, causing the cab to come crashing to ground level.  Elisha Otis encountered the elevator safety issue while working at a sawmill and took a place in history by solving it.

On this day, March 23rd, in 1857, Elisha Otis installed his fist elevator at 488 Broadway New York City.  Otis’s New York elevator is credited with being the first modern elevator.  Otis had been working on the concept of a “safety elevator” since 1851, where his sons assisted in successfully testing the design. His elevator featured a system that prevented the cab from falling in the event that the cable broke. Otis’s safety elevator was officially introduced in 1852 upon founding his own elevator company, Otis Brothers & Co.   Otis’s design revolutionized the capabilities and safety of elevators and a his design is the foundation of elevators currently in use today.

The Otis Elevator Company is still active today, as an United Technologies Corporation subsidiary,  and is one of the world’s largest vertical transport system manufacturers.