first traffic light in the world Page 1163

The first traffic light flickered to life in London in 1868 outside the Houses of Parliament—gas-lit, semaphore arms, and about as safe as juggling fireworks. It promptly exploded, injured a policeman, and the idea went back in the drawer for a few decades. The first successful electric traffic light arrived in 1914 in Cleveland, USA, with red and green signals controlled from a tower; no explosions, just orderly misery. Australia followed later with its own electric signals as motoring took off, and the rest is a saga of waiting at red lights pondering life choices.