Elisha Otis: Difference between revisions
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Otis was born near [[Halifax, Vermont]].<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> He moved away from home at the age of 19, eventually settling in [[Troy, New York]], where he lived for 5 years.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057648/Elisha-Graves-Otis|title=Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> At the [[New York Crystal Palace]], Elisha Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut.<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> The rope was severed by an axeman, and the platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt.<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> His new safety brake had stopped the platform from crashing to the ground and revolutionized the industry. |
Otis was born near [[Halifax, Vermont]].<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> He moved away from home at the age of 19, eventually settling in [[Troy, New York]], where he lived for 5 years having a steady job as a wagon driver.In 1834, he married Susan A. Houghton, and gave birth to their first child. Later that year, Otis suffered a terrible case of pnemonia, a disease which nearly killed him, but he earned enough money to move his wife and three year old son to the Vermont Hills on the Green River. He designed and built his own gristmill, but did not earn enough money, so he converted it into a sawmill, but still did not attract customers. Now having a second son, he started building wagons and carriages, which he was fairly well at doing. His wife then died, leaving Otis with two sons aged seven and two.At thirty-four years old, and hoping for a fresh start, he married Betsy A. Boyd and moved to Albany, New York. He got a job as a bedstead maker for Otis Tingely. He was very skilled at being a craftsman, and, tired of working all day to make only twelve bedsteads, he invented and patented his own rail turner. It could produce bedsteads four times faster than a normal person could manually do; about fifty. His boss gave him a $500 bonus, and Otis then moved into his own business. <ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057648/Elisha-Graves-Otis|title=Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> At the [[New York Crystal Palace]], Elisha Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut.<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> The rope was severed by an axeman, and the platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt.<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> His new safety brake had stopped the platform from crashing to the ground and revolutionized the industry. |
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Otis sold his first safety elevators in 1853.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057648/Elisha-Graves-Otis|title=Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> The first passenger elevator was installed by him in [[New York]] in 1857. After Otis's death in 1861, his sons, Charles and Norton, built on his heritage, creating Otis Brothers & Co. in 1867.<ref name="PBS Inventors Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/otis_hi.html|title=Inventor Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]}}</ref> |
Otis sold his first safety elevators in 1853.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057648/Elisha-Graves-Otis|title=Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> The first passenger elevator was installed by him in [[New York]] in 1857. After Otis's death in 1861, his sons, Charles and Norton, built on his heritage, creating Otis Brothers & Co. in 1867.<ref name="PBS Inventors Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/otis_hi.html|title=Inventor Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 18:03, 5 October 2008
Elisha Graves Otis | |
|---|---|
 Elisha Graves Otis | |
| Born | August 3 1811 |
| Died | April 8 1861 |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Engineering career | |
| Projects | elevators |
Elisha Graves Otis (August 3 1811 — April 8 1861), son of Stephen Otis Jr. and wife Pheobe Glynn, invented a safety device that prevented elevators from falling if the hoisting cable broke.[1] He worked on this safety device while living in Yonkers, New York in 1852, and then finally had a finished product in 1854.
Biography
Otis was born near Halifax, Vermont.[1] He moved away from home at the age of 19, eventually settling in Troy, New York, where he lived for 5 years having a steady job as a wagon driver.In 1834, he married Susan A. Houghton, and gave birth to their first child. Later that year, Otis suffered a terrible case of pnemonia, a disease which nearly killed him, but he earned enough money to move his wife and three year old son to the Vermont Hills on the Green River. He designed and built his own gristmill, but did not earn enough money, so he converted it into a sawmill, but still did not attract customers. Now having a second son, he started building wagons and carriages, which he was fairly well at doing. His wife then died, leaving Otis with two sons aged seven and two.At thirty-four years old, and hoping for a fresh start, he married Betsy A. Boyd and moved to Albany, New York. He got a job as a bedstead maker for Otis Tingely. He was very skilled at being a craftsman, and, tired of working all day to make only twelve bedsteads, he invented and patented his own rail turner. It could produce bedsteads four times faster than a normal person could manually do; about fifty. His boss gave him a $500 bonus, and Otis then moved into his own business. [2] At the New York Crystal Palace, Elisha Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut.[1] The rope was severed by an axeman, and the platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt.[1] His new safety brake had stopped the platform from crashing to the ground and revolutionized the industry.
Otis sold his first safety elevators in 1853.[2] The first passenger elevator was installed by him in New York in 1857. After Otis's death in 1861, his sons, Charles and Norton, built on his heritage, creating Otis Brothers & Co. in 1867.[3]
Otis's invention increased public confidence in elevators, and therefore allowed for the mass construction of a new trend of building: the skyscraper.[3] The company he founded became known as the Otis Elevator Company,[2] the largest elevator company in the world. Today, it is a division of United Technologies Corporation.
Today, the Otis family owns a home along the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[4]
See also
External links
- Elisha Otis Induction from Invent Now Hall of Fame
- Elisha Otis Article from Encyclopædia Britannica
- Elisha Otis from PBS
References
- ^ a b c d Invent Now. "Invent Now Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica. "Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis". Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ a b PBS. "Inventor Article on Elisha Otis". Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ BookRags. "Elisha Otis Biography". Retrieved 2007-12-18.