Elisha Otis

The most important, I would say, and this also gets a chapter in the book, is the elevator, or rather the safety elevator.

There had previously been elevators, but Elisha Otis's invention of a safety mechanism, which is to a large extent still in use today.

Like we've refined it, but it's still his basic system.

That means it is extremely unlikely that the car you're in is going to suddenly drop to the basement.

Wow.

All right, moving on to Elisha Otis, a name you can see stamped o- in every elevator you've ever been all over the world.

He's often cited as the inventor of elevators, but actually-

[laughs]

Before the elevator, the most expensive floor was the first above the ground, and the cheapest rooms were at the top, where people had to climb the most stairs.

Elisha Otis did not invent the elevator.

Hoists and lifts had existed for centuries.

But in eighteen fifty-four, he demonstrated a safety device that would catch the platform if the rope broke, and that is what made passenger elevators possible.

In 1854 visitors to an exhibition in New York watched a man rise above them on a wooden platform.

His name was Elisha Otis.

Above him was the rope holding the platform up and below him was the crowd he wanted to convince.

Otis had developed a safety brake for elevators and the problem was getting people to believe in it.

'Cause we've had elevators for hundreds and hundreds of years, but nobody is gonna get in an elevator, uh, that's gonna go any serious height unless it's safe.

And Elisha Otis invented the elevator brake, and he demonstrated it at one of these world's fairs.

Uh, it was a hugely theatrical demonstration.

He was lifted up, up, up above the crowd.

This whole idea of the elevator break, it's just a...

It, it's an invention that changed the world, actually.

Uh, we don't have the modern city without it, and it was Elisha Otis who did it and demonstrated it at that World's Fair.

I would have loved to have seen the video of that, and of course, when he did it, there wasn't.

Question two: In 1846, Elias Howe patented what household invention that changed how clothes were made both at home and in factories? And the answer is the sewing machine.

Question three: What invention, made safe for tall buildings thanks to a safety break patented by Elisha Otis in 1852, lets people travel quickly between floors? And the answer is the elevator.

Question four: What invention created by Benjamin Franklin protects buildings from being struck by lightning during storms? And the answer is the lightning rod.

Question five: What everyday wireless technology used on phones, laptops, and Bluetooth devices has its roots in an invention co-created by actress Hedy Lamarr during World War II? And the answer is Wi-Fi.

The safety elevator.

Elisha Otis' safety brake prevented elevator cars from plunging if the cable snapped.

Public confidence in safe elevators enabled taller buildings and modern urban skylines.

Question 4.