Inventions & Discoveries · Building and engineering

Elevator

1852 · 19th century

An elevator, or lift, is a machine that carries people or goods vertically between levels; the earliest known reference, by the Roman architect Vitruvius, reports that Archimedes built one, probably in 236 BCE. The Colosseum, completed in 80 CE, had about 25 elevators powered by men for raising animals. Steam-powered elevators served mines and factories in the mid-19th century, and in 1852 Elisha Otis introduced the safety elevator, which kept the cab from falling if the cable broke; the first passenger one was installed in New York City in 1857.

Elevator
Image: Another Believer · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

On the inventions tree

First known
1852
Where
New York
Credited to
Elisha Otis · United States

NoteA safety device already featured in Gaetano Genovese’s “flying chair” at Caserta in 1845.

Built onSteam engine1606
Led toSkyscraper1885

See it on the inventions tree →

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Elevator. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/elevator
MLA
“Elevator.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/elevator. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Elevator.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/elevator.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Elevator’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/elevator (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻