The demand for vertical transportation is as old as human civilization. The earliest lifting platforms used human, animal and hydraulic power to lift weight. Lifting devices have relied on these basic power modes until the industrial revolution.

　　 In ancient Greece, Archimedes developed an improved lifting device operated by ropes and pulleys. It used a winch and a lever to wind the lifting rope on the bobbin.

　　 In 80 AD, gladiators and wild animals took the primitive lifting platform to reach the height of the arena in the Roman Coliseum.

　　 Medieval records include countless people who lifted the lifting device and patterns that provided supplies to isolated locations. The most famous of these is the lifting platform of St. Baram Monastery in Greece. This monastery is located on the top of a mountain about 61 meters above the ground. The hoist uses baskets or cargo nets to transport people and goods up and down.

　　 In 1203, the lifting platform of a monastery located on the coast of France was installed using a huge treadmill. The donkey provided the lifting power. By winding a rope around a huge pillar, the load was lifted.

　　 In the 18th century, mechanical force began to be used in the development of lifting platforms. In 1743, French Louis XV authorized the installation of personnel lifting platforms using counterweights in the private palace of Versailles.

　　 In 1833, a system using reciprocating rods lifted miners in the Harz Mountains of Germany.

　　 In 1835, a belt-driven lifting platform called a "winch machine" was installed in a factory in the UK.

　　 In 1846, the first industrial hydraulic lifting platform appeared. Then other powered lifting devices appeared soon after.

　　 In 1854, American mechanic Otis invented a ratchet mechanism and demonstrated the safe lifting platform at the New York Trade Fair.　

　　 In 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was built, a steam-powered lifting platform was installed, and then an elevator was used.

　　 In 1892, the lifting equipment of Mount Astilero in Chile was completed. Until now, 15 lifting platforms still use machinery and equipment from more than 110 years ago.

　　 Currently, the "Gotthard Tunnel" under construction in Graubunden, Switzerland is an underground railway tunnel from the Alpine ski resorts to other European countries. It is 57 kilometers long and is expected to be completed and opened to traffic in 2016. At the "Alps" high-speed train station about 800 meters above the ground, a lifting platform will be built directly to the ground. After completion, it will be the longest lifting platform in the world. After reaching the ground through the lifting platform, passengers can take the Alpine Glacier Sightseeing Express Train and reach the resort on the mountain in two hours.