Traffic Light Colors: The Surprising History
Have you ever had a sudden stroke of curiosity while you were out and about? Is there a God out there? What is the true meaning of consciousness? Why are the traffic lights red, green, and yellow? While we can’t give you answers to the first two, the “lights” one has quite a fascinating history.
1. Early Traffic Signals
Before the adoption of electric traffic signals, there was a lack of standardized traffic control systems. Various methods were used in different places to manage traffic at intersections. For example, some places used police officers stationed at intersections to manually direct traffic. As you can imagine, this was often inefficient and prone to human error.
2. The Red-Green Gaslight (1868)
The first known attempt at a traffic signal system was introduced in London by John Peake Knight in 1868. It was called the “Semaphore” and used red and green gaslights, along with mechanical arms, to signal “stop” and “go.” However, this system had many limitations and was ultimately swapped out for electric lights.
