Tools & manufacturing · 1853

Safety elevator

A safety brake that grips the rails if the rope snaps.

Elisha Otis demonstrated his safety elevator in New York in 1853-54, and the first passenger elevator ran in 1857. Safe vertical travel made tall buildings usable.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Newcomen steam engine 1712
Pulley 1500 BCE

What it led to 1

Steel-frame skyscraper 1885

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

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