Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Sports & Recreation THE HISTORY OF POLE VAULTING THE HISTORY OF POLE VAULTING Elisha Graves Otis didn't invent the elevator, he invented something perhaps more important---the elevator brake-which made skyscrapers a practical reality. Born on a farm near Halifax, Vermont, the youngest of six children, Otis made several attempts at establishing businesses in his early years. However, chronically poor health led to continual financial woes. Finally, in 1845, he tried to change his luck with a move to Albany, New York. There he worked as a master mechanic in the bedstead factory of O. Tingley & Company. He remained about three years and during that time invented and put into use a railway safety brake, which could be controlled by the engineer, and ingenious devices to run rails for four-poster beds and to improve the operation of turbine wheels. From ancient times through the Middle Ages, and into the 13th century, man or animal power was the driving force behind hoisting devices. By 1850 steam and hydraulic elevators had been introduced, but it was in 1852 that the landmark event in elevator history occurred: the invention of the world's first safety elevator by Elisha Graves Otis. By 1852 he had moved to Yonkers, New York, to organize and install machinery for the bedstead firm of Maize & Burns, which was expanding. Josiah Maize needed a hoist to lift heavy equipment to the upper floor. Although hoists were not new, Otis' inventive nature had been piqued because of the equipment's safety problem. The problem was to make a hoist that wouldn’t fall. He found the answer with a tough, steel wagon spring meshing with a ratchet. If the rope gave way, the spring would catch and hold. In 1854 Otis dramatized his safety device on the floor of the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York. With a large audience on hand, the inventor ascended in an elevator cradled in an open-sided shaft. Halfway up, he had the hoisting cable cut with an axe. The platform held up and the elevator industry was good to go. This safety device 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. Bibliography: Elisha Graves Otis didn't invent the elevator, he invented something perhaps more important---the elevator brake-which made skyscrapers a practical reality. Born on a farm near Halifax, Vermont, the youngest of six children, Otis made several attempts at establishing businesses in his early years. However, chronically poor health led to continual financial woes. Finally, in 1845, he tried to change his luck with a move to Albany, New York. There he worked as a master mechanic in the bedstead factory of O. Tingley & Company. He remained about three years and during that time invented and put into use a railway safety brake, which could be controlled by the engineer, and ingenious devices to run rails for four-poster beds and to improve the operation of turbine wheels. From ancient times through the Middle Ages, and into the 13th century, man or animal power was the driving force behind hoisting devices. By 1850 steam and hydraulic elevators had been introduced, but it was in 1852 that the landmark event in elevator history occurred: the invention of the world's first safety elevator by Elisha Graves Otis. By 1852 he had moved to Yonkers, New York, to organize and install machinery for the bedstead firm of Maize & Burns, which was expanding. Josiah Maize needed a hoist to lift heavy equipment to the upper floor. Although hoists were not new, Otis' inventive nature had been piqued because of the equipment's safety problem. The problem was to make a hoist that wouldn’t fall. He found the answer with a tough, steel wagon spring meshing with a ratchet. If the rope gave way, the spring would catch and hold. In 1854 Otis dramatized his safety device on the floor of the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York. With a large audience on hand, the inventor ascended in an elevator cradled in an open-sided shaft. Halfway up, he had the hoisting cable cut with an axe. The platform held up and the elevator industry was good to go. This safety device 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. Word Count: 568
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