The escalator is a moving staircase that helps people to move between floors at public places like malls, train, stations, airports etc.

The first idea of “revolving stairs” was patented by Nathan Ames in 1859 in USA, but it never saw the light of day. In the 1890s, American engineer Jesse W. Reno installed an “inclined elevator” at Coney Island, an amusement park in New York City. The 7-feet long conveyor belt was inclined at a 25 degree angle. It was the first example of a working escalator. The term ‘escalator’ was coined by Charles Seeberger, an American inventor, from the Latin word scala for steps and the word ‘elevator’, which had already been invented. He joined hands with the pioneering elevator company, Otis, and produced the first commercial wooden escalator which won the first prize at the Paris 1900 Exposition Universelle in France. Soon, escalators were installed in Europe and USA. As the Otis Elevator Company held the trademark rights to the word ‘escalator’ until 1950, other manufacturers called them by different names like Moving Stairs and Motorstair. Today, Otis and Schindler are the largest makers of escalators in the world.

 

Picture Credit : Google