World Elevator Day: Otis Shares Fun Facts

Elisha Graves Otis shows his first elevator in the Crystal Palace, New York City, 1853. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

Dogs, cats, martinis, chocolate ice cream and, of course, elevators! In honor of World (not National) Elevator Day, our friends at Otis shared a few interesting facts:

On March 23, 1857, passengers took the first rides in an Otis elevator at the E.V. Haughwout Department Store in NYC.

Otis moves more than 2 billion people each day — a quarter of the world’s population!

The invention of the elevator made taller buildings and modern cities possible.

The Otis Gen2® elevator revolutionized the industry by replacing steel ropes with flat belts — a huge energy-saving move, too, and still used today.

Smart/connected elevators are next. Today, passengers can remotely call an elevator and mechanics can see, and in some cases even fix, issues before anyone notices a problem.

Most new Otis elevators in North America are manufactured in Florence, South Carolina. The factory — celebrating 10 years this year — is also the first in the industry to be TRUE-certified, recognizing its success in Zero Waste to Landfill policies.

Check out Otis’ piece here.

Get more of Elevator World. Sign up for our free e-newsletter.

Please enter a valid email address.
Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.

Sobha Central; image courtesy of Sobha Realty

Sobha Realty Launches Major New Dubai Development

Alvarado

Bill Requiring Elevator Repairs Dies in Texas Legislature

TÜRKIYE’S AYSAD HOLDS 54TH ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Türkiye’s AYSAD Holds 54th Ordinary General Assembly

Elevator Service Inc. logo

ESI Acquires Oklahoma-Based American Elevator

Proposed supertall development; image courtesy of Henriquez Partners Architects

Vancouver Developer Unveils Supertall Proposal

ENGINEERINGUK RELEASES UPDATED WORKFORCE DATA

EngineeringUK Releases Updated Workforce Data

image courtesy of CiA

Upcoming CiA Webinars on Functional Safety and CANopen Lift

The Otis test tower in Bristol, Connecticut; image courtesy of Otis Elevator Co. via X

Connecticut Publication Highlights Otis Modernization Business