World Elevator Day is celebrated on March 23. On this date in 1857, passengers took their first elevator rides at the upscale, five-story E.V. Haughwout Department Store in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood. This Otis elevator was the world’s first commercial installation. It had a fully enclosed cab and was powered by a steam engine, running at .20 m/s. The building’s owner, Eder V. Haughwout, hoped that customers would be drawn in by the new technology — and stay to shop.
At the time, NYC was among the largest cities in the world, with a population of approximately 800,000 residents. Today, the city’s population is nearly 8.5 million. A 2022 report from Statista found that more than 20 million elevators and escalators were in service worldwide. With more than half of the world’s population living in cities, vertical transportation plays an important role in making daily life possible. On World Elevator Day, we reflect on the industry’s many milestones — and the hard-working people who have made these innovations possible over the centuries.
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