On Sept. 20, 1853, Elisha Graves Otis sold his first “hoist machine,” or elevator, featuring an automatic safety brake he had patented. His seemingly simple invention was designed to stop a platform ...

Elisha Otis invented the first passenger safety elevator - the patent for which can be seen here - 160 years ago Riding in an elevator used to be dangerous business - until Elisha Otis, of Otis ...

The first passenger elevator got off to a slow start. Installed in 1857 at the Haughwout Department Store in New York, it was shut down after just three years because customers refused to accept it.

This, the first passenger elevator, was installed in a New York department store in 1857. The elevator is not round, though the first passenger elevator shaft, installed a mile north of this store, ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American 2013 marks 160 years since Elisha Graves Otis ...

For nearly a year, in the course of producing the NOVA documentary "Trapped in an Elevator," I've been immersed in the fascinating lore of perhaps the least appreciated—but arguably most critical—form ...

At age 150 or so, elevators have already achieved many technological changes, speeding passengers up hundreds of floors with relatively little energy and in less space than ever, The Associated Press ...

Riding in an elevator used to be dangerous business — until Elisha Otis, of Otis Elevator Company fame, invented a device that could prevent a passenger elevator from falling if its rope broke. It ...