GREEN light at East GWILLIMBURY intersection
I'm sure this looks familiar to all of you since most large cities around the world have traffic lights, Traffic has been a problem for centuries - even during the days of horse and buggies but before traffic lights, policemen in white gloves were typically the ones in Europe and North America to control it.
In 1868, a new invention appeared outside the British House of Parliament for night use: a gas lantern that turned at its base by a lever to reveal a red or GREEN side. Red meant stop but GREEN apparently meant caution. Unfortunately in 1869 the lantern exploded... and that was that! Until...
red/green traffic lights appeared in several American cities: Salt Lake City (1912) and Cleveland (1914). Then in 1920, three colours appeared in Detroit, and the rectangular box that held the colours were suspended by a cable to be more easily seen by oncoming vehicles. Just like now, the yellow (or amber) meant the light was about to change.
33 friends stopped by to say:
That was an interesting history of the stoplight...I never gave that a second thought! Thanks for the educational moment today! Have a great day!
Wow, I did not know that about the traffic lights. Great photo!
i enjoyed the history of traffic light. we have traffic lights here but there are still lots of traffic officers (not policemen) who direct pedestrian and vehicular traffic especially during peak hours. great shot.
That was informative. Nice one.
Funny how we take so many things in our lives for granted. Cool history!
Have a great week.
Interesting history and new for me.
Thank you!
I was at that intersection on Sunday!
Jane x
only you could make traffic pretty :)
I love this shot
didn't know all that about traffic lights, interesting
Love your changing light at the end of the post. Interesting history of something that I just take for granted.
bunch o' cars on the GO!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
Thanks for sharing this information, now I learn some facts about traffic lights.
Gold and Green
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team.
That is a nice shot taken into the late evening sun.
I like the idea of having traffic police (as Luna mentioned) instead of more traffic lights.
Never knew that!
New to me too, thank you!!
G is for...
Stop! Ok, go slow. Now, let me read this whole commentary! Very interesting and I didn't know all that!
Very interesting photo and post!
I'm sitting here thinking about how am I supposed to pronounce that name?
On behalf of the ABC Weds team, thank you for such an educational and entertaining post!
Paula
ABC Weds Team
Thanks for the history...never even thought of looking it up.
Interesting.xx
Interesting about the exploding lantern being one of the precursors to our current traffic lights. This has got to be one of the most useful inventions ever … although not nearly as creative and fun to watch as the hand gestures from traffic police wearing white gloves. :)
How interesting!
Interesting history lesson and great photo.
Thanks for swing by my blog. While I'm sure snow is a drudge for you, where I'm living it's quite a novelty :)
I never thought about the history of traffic lights and now I KNOW!
Quite fascinating! Love the little ones shown here and how it changes colour...
Leslie
abcw team
I like the photo and enjoyed the history. It's interesting to find out the origins of things we take for granted and don't even think about.
«Louis» enjoyed your little history lesson!
(He eats trivia like this up!)
What an awesome sky!
I learn something new every day- enjoyed the info!
Great lighting in the photo, interesting history. I go a slightly longer route to work to avoid them:-)
Page and Turners looks like a great place to go! Very interesting history of the traffic lights!
That was a great piece of research! How much we take for granted in our everyday lives. Thanks for this info.
Pretty picture at sunset. Yes, traffic lights have become a constant in our lives.
It's the sunset in the background that caught my eye first :) stunning photo. Hope you could visit My ABC Wednesday entry. Thanks!
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