Elevator
Pre-industrial era

The earliest known reference to an elevator is in the works of the Roman architect Vitruvius, who reported that Archimedes (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) built his first elevator probably in 236 BC. Sources from later periods mention elevators as cabs on a hemp rope, powered by people or animals.

The Roman Colosseum, completed in 80 AD, had roughly 25 elevators that were used for raising animals up to the floor. Each elevator could carry about 600 pounds (270 kg) (roughly the weight of two lions) 23 feet (7.0 m) up when powered by up to eight men.

In 1000, the Book of Secrets by Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi in Islamic Spain described the use of an elevator-like lifting device to raise a large battering ram to destroy a fortress.

In the 17th century, prototypes of elevators were installed in the palace buildings of England and France. Louis XV of France had a so-called 'flying chair' built for one of his mistresses at the Château de Versailles in 1743.

Ancient and medieval elevators used drive systems based on hoists and windlasses. The invention of a system based on the screw drive was perhaps the most important step in elevator technology since ancient times, leading to the creation of modern passenger elevators. The first screw-drive elevator was built by Ivan Kulibin and installed in the Winter Palace in 1793, although there may have been an earlier design by Leonardo da Vinci. Several years later, another of Kulibin's elevators was installed in the Arkhangelskoye near Moscow.
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