For many centuries buildings were built with bricks and cement. However brick walls weren’t strong enough to support the weight of a building taller than five stories. This worked out fine because no one wanted to climb more than five flights of stairs anyhow! The invention of a safe passenger elevator in 1852 changed that. Elisha Graves Otis added safety brakes to the elevator which kept it from plunging to the ground if a rope broke. At around the same time builders started using materials other than cement for construction. Steel which is stronger and lighter than bricks and cement could be used to support very tall buildings. With these two inventions architects suddenly found that the sky was the limit!

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