19 Interesting Elevator Facts That Would Make You Say 'Wow'

Elevators originally had ornate furniture, chandeliers, and lucullan carpets.

Before being taken to another floor, passengers were made very comfortable. Numerous cables hold up every elevator, and each of those cables can safely carry the entire elevator and its passengers.

Every three days, elevators carry nearly all of Earth's population. Roman architect, Vitruvius, reported in his works in 236 BC that Archimedes built the first elevator. The first human-powered elevator was a personal elevator for King Louis XV of France in 1743. 

Invention And History Of Elevators

In the 19th century, elevators were powered by steam power for transporting materials in mines, warehouses, and factories. Maximum altitude that a cable run elevator can achieve is 1700 ft (518.2 m). The ancient Roman Colosseum is thought to have had 24 elevators manually run by 200 enslaved people.

Elevators carry people and goods vertically within a closed chamber that connects all the floors of a building.

An elevator is used to transport freight and people, or an enclosure is raised and lowered in a vertical shaft. In the 1850s, elevators evolved to form a unique structure with steel and iron frames that gave humans the confidence to construct taller buildings. 

In 1846, the hydraulic crane was introduced by Sir William Armstrong, replaced by steam-powered elevators gradually. Electric elevators were popular by the end of the 19th century.

Elisha Graves Otis impressed spectators at a convention by introducing the first passenger elevator in 1853 and installing it in New York City in 1856. He also introduced the first safety passenger elevator at Crystal Palace Convention in New York City.

Types Of Elevators

In 1880, German inventor Werner von Selmer constructed the first electric elevator. Archimedes, a mathematician, invented the simple elevator. We find some of the most famous cabin travel elevators in Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The main supplier of electric elevators was Elisha Graves Otis, who invented the modern elevator in 1853. Freedom Elite elevator company also customizes elevators by making glass doors, wooden ones, metal ones, and the like.

Traction elevators are mostly used in high-rise buildings and other big establishments, both for freight and transporting people.

Hydraulic elevators are simpler than traction elevators and are ideal for low-rise buildings or other smaller organizations.

Pneumatic elevators use a valve and vacuum to move the vehicle upwards by air in place of vacuum to then move it down.

Electromagnetic propulsion elevators are cable-free ones that use electromagnetic propulsion to move the vehicle, which can move horizontally and vertically.

Uses Of Elevators

As years passed, elevators became indispensable in human mobility to scale altitudes. The first manually operated elevator that was user-controlled was installed at Marriott, New York. Today, elevators have become a necessity in high-rises and large buildings to make it easier for people with mobility problems and those using wheelchairs to reach the upper floors with ease. 

Elevators are required to provide universal access in all modern multi-floor buildings.

Invention of an elevator was of great advantage to humanity since it enabled the movement of passengers and goods in between different levels of a building without much difficulty.

Elevators have drastically changed our lives, and it has helped limit land acquisition to build structures horizontally by reducing floors. Even people on wheelchairs can access the elevator without any difficulty.

World Famous Elevators

A world-famous elevator is to be found at St. Louis' Gateway Arch. Lacerda Elevator in Brazil transports 900,000 passengers every month in 30 seconds. Other famous elevators are the Louvre Elevator in France and that of the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. Otis Elevator company makes the largest number of elevators in the world.

Ancient Roman Colosseum had 24 elevators which 200 enslaved people manually operated.

Lacerda Elevator in Salvador is Brazil's first elevator. Lacerda Elevator is the world's busiest elevator, opened in 1873.

The biggest outdoor elevator globally is the Bailong elevator in China.

The Louvre elevator in France, and Luxor Hotel Elevator in Las Vegas travel at high speed.

Santa Justa elevator in Lisbon, Portugal, Hammetschwand elevator in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, and the famous Eiffel Tower's elevators in Paris, France are tourist viewpoints. The first manually controlled elevator was installed in New York's Marriott. 

No 13th Button

Do you know that almost 85% of elevators do not have the 13th-floor button? Triskaidekaphobia (fear or avoidance) is a superstition surrounding the number 13. Why are doubters convinced that the majority would avoid the 13th floor? How has history created such a stigma about the 13th floor?

In 2002, Otis elevators estimated that 85% of buildings with Otis brand elevators omitted the floor numbered 13th.

Early on, tall-building architects feared fire on the 13th floor. Hence, they decided to omit the 13th floor on their elevator numbering. 

An interesting theory is that the 13th floor contains top-secret governmental departments or clandestine activities.

The 13th floor has become the centre of many reputed urban myths in ghost stories and legends reverberating with abnormal activity, possibly because it is associated with the number 13. In history, the number 13 is associated with bad luck.

FAQs

How many elevators are there in the world?

There are about 900,000 elevators in the world.

When was the first elevator invented?

The first simple elevator was invented in the year 236 BC by Archimedes. However, the first elevator was installed in 1854 by Otis.

Why is it called an elevator?

'Elevator' is the name of a lift company in the US, and so these structures came to be called so.

Who first invented the elevator?

Elisha Otis invented the first elevator in 1854 in New York.

What was the first elevator?

The first elevator was a passenger elevator.

What problem did the elevator solve?

People could access all floors of high-rise buildings with ease.

When were elevators widely used?

People widely used elevators during the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s.

What type of motors are used in elevators?

Electric motors are used in elevators.

What do elevators do on a plane?

Elevators are flight control surfaces on a plane.

Where is the highest outdoor elevator in the world?

The highest outdoor elevator in the world is the Bailong Elevator, situated in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan, China.