What is an elevator called in British English?
AnswerLift
In the UK and much of the Commonwealth, an elevator is a lift.
Tech · Facts & stats
Elevator facts & stats
7 fact-checked facts about elevators, lifts and vertical transport, each with the reason behind it. 5 more are in today's round and join this page after it closes.
The basics
Elisha Otis is best known for inventing what?
AnswerA safety brake for elevators
Otis's safety device stops the car from falling if the hoist rope breaks.
Going deeper
At which event did Elisha Otis famously demonstrate his safety elevator in 1854?
AnswerThe Crystal Palace exhibition in New York
Otis cut the rope of a raised platform and the brake held.
What does the counterweight in a traction elevator do?
AnswerBalances the car's weight so the motor works less
The counterweight offsets the car's weight, cutting energy use.
What is a paternoster?
AnswerA chain of open cars that moves continuously without stopping
Riders step on and off paternoster cars as they loop slowly.
Expert level
The first commercial passenger safety elevator was installed in 1857 in which city?
AnswerNew York
It went into the E. V. Haughwout Building in New York.
Who first proposed the idea of a space elevator, in 1895?
AnswerKonstantin Tsiolkovsky
Tsiolkovsky imagined a tower reaching to geostationary orbit.
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