Elevators, which have become an indispensable attribute of modern high-rise buildings, have gone through a centuries-old history in their development. Even in antiquity, man began to use lifting mechanisms that facilitated work, helping to lift loads to a considerable height. Modern elevators have become more reliable and comfortable.
When did the first elevators appear?
The first devices designed to lift loads to a height, apparently, appeared in Ancient Egypt, where they were used in the construction of pyramids. The builders of these majestic structures with the help of simple mechanisms could lift up boulders of a sufficiently large weight. These devices can be considered the prototype of those freight elevators that appeared later.
In ancient Rome, lifts were also used in the homes of wealthy citizens. The remains of such a device were excavated by archaeologists from under the ruins of one of the buildings in the city of Herculaneum, which perished in the eruption of Vesuvius. This primitive elevator was probably used to bring ready meals from the kitchen on the first level of the building to the upper floors of the house.
In the middle of the 18th century, a more advanced elevator existed in the Palace of Versailles, built at the whim of the French king Louis XV. The movable part of the structure was raised and lowered by the servants. The lift, which had a rather complex and original device, was required only so that the king could go up to his beloved's room, located one floor above.
From the history of the emergence of the modern elevator
At a later time, elevators began to be used for industrial purposes. At the very beginning of the 19th century, a similar structure, powered by steam, was used in American coal mines. Its advantage was that the equipment no longer required the muscular strength of humans or animals. A little later, freight elevators began to be widely used in British factories.
In 1845, inventor William Thompson, famous for the creation of pneumatic tires, demonstrated the world's first hydraulic lift. A revolutionary step was the use of the platform's safe braking system in the event of an accident. The work of this device was shown in one of the high-rise buildings in New York in 1854. Its author was Elisha Otis, who was the first to test the quality of the braking system. The demonstration delighted the audience.
Having become safe, elevators have found widespread use not only in manufacturing, but also in residential and office buildings. The hydraulic drive was replaced with an electric one. A system of automatic door opening appeared, the movement of the cabin became smooth. Modern high-rise buildings in the largest cities of the world are equipped with safe and comfortable high-speed elevators, which can lift passengers and goods to dizzying heights in a matter of minutes.
