Today in Science History March 23rd
by Greg on Mar.23, 2009, under Science Life History
In 1857, the world’s first passenger safety elevator went into service in a store at 488 Broadway and Broome Street in New York City. The safety elevator invented by Elisha Otis was powered by steam through a series of shafts and belts. As the safety and efficiency of the early elevators continued to improve, space in buildings’ upper floors soon became more desirable, reversing a long-standing trend in commercial and residential leasing. By 1870, Otis Brothers & Company had revenues in excess of US$1 million. A couple of years later, there were no less than 2,000 Otis elevators in use.
The modern city and its ability to grow up, and not out (reducing wasteful sprawl) is directly related to the invention to the up down people mover.
If you read one article ever on the elevator, read this intense look written up in the New Yorker last year.
:elevator
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Science, media, art, movies, politics, and what else I find interesting tweeting and reading on the internet. And ITP.
Nasa's Image of the Day
Panorama of the East Coast
This Jan. 29 panorama of much of the East Coast, photographed by one of the Expedition 30 crew members aboard the International Space Station, provides a look generally northeastward: Philadelphia-New York City-Boston corridor (bottom-center); western Lake Ontario shoreline with Toronto (left edge); Montreal (near center). An optical illusion in the photo makes the atmospheric limb and light activity from Aurora Borealis appear "intertwined." Image Credit: NASA
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