New York has given the world some of its most useful tech. Count down five firsts from the Empire State — from the safety elevator and the photocopy to the first public cell phone call and air conditioning — plus two bonus picks, including one of the first video games.
#5: Safety elevator (Yonkers, 1852)
Early elevators could fall if the lifting rope snapped. Elisha Otis invented a safety stop at a Yonkers bed factory. If the rope breaks, the car locks in place. In 1854 he rode one and had the rope cut with an axe.
#4: Photocopying (xerography) (Astoria, 1938)
A dry way to copy pages using light, static and powder. Chester Carlson made the first copy in Astoria, Queens. It led to the Xerox 914, the first modern office copier. More than 20 companies turned his invention down.
#3: Apollo Lunar Module (Bethpage, 1969)
The spacecraft that set astronauts down on the Moon. Grumman built the Lunar Module in Bethpage, Long Island. July 20, 1969: the lander Eagle touched down. On Apollo 13 it became the crew’s lifeboat.
#2: First handheld cell call (Manhattan, 1973)
A phone call with no cord — made from a city sidewalk. Martin Cooper made it on Sixth Avenue, April 3, 1973. His phone weighed 2.5 pounds and talked for 30 minutes. Who did he call first? His rival at Bell Labs.
#1: Modern air conditioning (Buffalo, 1902)
Machines that control a room’s heat and humidity. Willis Carrier drew up his design in Buffalo in 1902. It went to work in a Brooklyn printing plant. It was built to keep paper from swelling, not cool people.
Bonus Picks From New York
Tennis for Two (Upton, 1958). Brookhaven Lab built a tennis game for its 1958 open house. It played on an oscilloscope with knob-and-button controls. Its creator never patented it — he thought it was obvious.
Moog synthesizer (Trumansburg, 1964). Robert Moog built his synthesizer in Trumansburg in 1964. It made brand-new sounds from electricity, knobs and keys. The Beatles used one on Abbey Road.
Tech From Every State
This is part of my Tech From Every State series: the top tech inventions and firsts from each of the 50 states, told with simple animations. Watch the whole series on YouTube and subscribe to The Tech Ranch so you don’t miss your state.
Did we miss something invented in New York? Tell me in the YouTube comments — and give the video a thumbs up if you learned something.
