A short history of the elevator

The first passenger elevator got off to a slow start. Installed in 1857 at the Haughwout Department Store in New York, it was shut down after just three years because customers refused to accept it. Powered by a steam engine in the basement of the five-story building, it traveled at a mere 40 feet per minute. (Today's fastest elevators can travel upwards of 40 feet per second.)

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