ce changed the face of the globe by making things move up and down easily. This helped make skyscrapers a reality. The first passenger elevator was installed by Otis in New York in 1857. After Otis' death in 1861, his sons, Charles and Norton, built on his heritage, creating Otis Brothers & Co. in 1867. By 1873 over 2,000 Otis elevators were in use in office buildings, hotels and department stores across America, and five years later the first Otis hydraulic passenger elevator was installed. The Era of the Skyscraper followed.... and in 1889 Otis revealed the first successful direct-connected geared electric elevator machines. In 1898 overseas business had added to the company's growth, and Otis Brothers merged with 14 other elevator entities to form the Otis Elevator Company. In 1903 Otis introduced the design that would become the "backbone" of the elevator industry: the gearless traction electric elevator, engineered and proven to outlast the building itself. This ushered in the age of high-rise structures, ultimately including New York's Empire State Building and World Trade Center, Chicago's John Hancock Center, and Toronto's CN Tower. Throughout all these years, Otis innovations in automatic controls have included the Signal Control System, Peak Period Control, the Otis Autotronic System, and Multiple Zoning. Otis is a world leader in developing computer technology, and the company has revolutionized elevator controls, generating dramatic improvements in elevator response time and ride quality....
