This device has become familiar to us today, and we cannot even imagine that once humanity could exist without it. We are talking about such an ordinary, but vital device as a traffic light. Let's learn more about the history of the appearance of this device in the world and in the USSR, and also consider its types.
What is a traffic light
Before you deal with the question "Where did the first traffic light in the world appear?", It is worth learning about the features of this device.
The device in question is used throughout the world to supply light signals to regulate the movement of road / rail / water or other modes of transport, as well as pedestrians at specialized crossings intended for them.
Interestingly, most languages have their own names for this device. In the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian languages, it is formed from the word "light" ("light", "holy") and the Greek term "bearing" ("foros"): traffic light, svіtlofor, svyatlafor.
In English it is traffic light (literally"lights for traffic"), in French - feu de circulation, in German - die Ampel, in Polish - światło drogowe ("road light"), etc.
For the first time the word "traffic light" was recorded in the dictionaries of the Russian language in 1932
Main species
Depending on the scope of application, the following types of traffic lights are distinguished:
- Road-street.
- Railway.
- River.
Each of them has a number of subspecies and types. For example, railway transport has 18 of them, and road-street transport has 4 (depending on the focus on road users: motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, and in some countries also on route vehicles).
Also, traffic lights differ in the type of signaling. The traditional form is a circle glowing with the required color. However, since the end of the twentieth century flashing arrows or little men have become widespread. In addition, many modern traffic lights are equipped with a countdown function.
Why is there a need for such a device?
Before we turn to the history of the appearance of the first traffic light in the world and in Russia, it is worth knowing why such an unusual device was needed.
The need for order to move carriages, horsemen and pedestrians along city streets arose many centuries before the invention of cars. Even in ancient Rome, Julius Caesar tried to introduce at least some rules of the road, but this idea did not work.
In the Middle Ages, an attempt was made more than once to regulate movement on the streets, butand then nothing happened.
The main reason for such failures was that, despite any laws, the advantage of passage always remained with the nobility. That is, in fact, nobles and we althy citizens in all ages stood above any rules of movement. Violating them, they not only set a bad example for representatives of lower social groups, but also prevented each other from moving normally, often causing accidents.
With the invention of trams and cars, as well as the increase in their number, the need to regulate their movement has become even more urgent. And to make it easier to do this, it was decided to invent a specialized device for this, later called a traffic light.
Where and when did the first traffic light appear
The apparatus designed to regulate traffic on the streets first appeared near the Houses of Parliament in the British capital on 1868-10-12
Designed the world's first traffic light John Peak Knight. In fairness, it should be said that he did not invent this device, but modified the traditional model of railway semaphores, which he was well versed in.
Unlike the classic models, the first apparatus shone only at night, when the signals were given using rotating green and red gas lamps. During the day, the first traffic light was controlled by two semaphore arrows.
Despite all the advantages of this innovation, within a month, Knight's device exploded. After such an enchanting failure, the device did notbegan to restore.
The evolution of motion control lights
Although the first traffic light (photo above) did not perform well, many people liked the idea of using a control device. Moreover, in the coming years, in most countries of the world, it came to the need to create traffic laws for cars, which began to pose a serious threat to the lives of pedestrians. For this reason, in 1909, uniform traffic rules for Europe, as well as a system of signaling signs, were finally approved in Paris.
In response, Ernst Sirrin's first automated traffic light was patented in Chicago, USA, the following year.
Unlike the British version, this one was not illuminated, as it consisted of signs with Stop and Proceed inscriptions. Its main innovation was the autonomy of the device: for its operation, the presence of a controlling person was not necessary.
Two years later, an even more revolutionary type of device in question appeared in the USA - an electric one. It was invented by Lester Wire and could already glow in two colors: red and green.
Two years later, in the same United States, a new version of the apparatus in question, patented by James Hog, was put into operation. Unlike Vayr's device, this one was still capable of making a sharp sound.
Despite the fact that Hoag's device was the most successful at that time, American inventors continued to work on improving it.
In 1920, William Potts andJohn F. Harris was the first in the world to propose the use of not two, but three colors. The first traffic light of this design appeared on the roads of Detroit at the same time.
Two years later, the French and Germans followed the example of their colleagues overseas and installed the first three-color devices for adjusting the movement of cars in Paris and Hamburg. Five years later, in 1927, the invention of Potts and Harris began to be widely used in the UK.
When and where did the first traffic light in the USSR (Russia) appear
In the Russian Empire in all ages one of the main problems were roads. With the advent of Soviet power, the situation did not become much better. Therefore, while the rest of the world was experimenting with traffic rules and various devices for their regulation, the Soviet people had to build normal roads first. Moreover, after the revolution of 1917 and the Civil War, the newly formed young state already had many problems.
However, by 1930, the government of the USSR decided to try to install an American innovation. Due to the fact that the capital of the country was excessively overloaded with immigrants, it was inconvenient to conduct such experiments in it - after all, to install a traffic light, it was necessary to stop traffic, which the authorities at that time could not afford. Therefore, the first traffic light in Russia was installed on January 15, 1930 in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) at the intersection of Nevsky and Liteiny avenues (then called October 25 and Volodarsky).
Over the course of a year of work, this overseas miracle proved to be excellent and by the end of Decemberappeared in Moscow at the corner of Petrovka and Kuznetsky Most.
Further history of distribution in the USSR
After the first traffic light was installed in the capital of the USSR, for another three years the state considered the need for such devices in other settlements. Rostov-on-Don became the first city (after the two capitals of Russia) in which such devices were installed.
On the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, the first traffic light appeared in Kharkov in 1936
In the coming years, such devices began to appear in other major cities of the country.
Features of Soviet traffic lights
Despite the borrowing of the American design of this device, Soviet engineers experimented with its color scheme for some time.
Initially, instead of green, blue was used. In addition, the colors were reversed, with blue on top and red on bottom.
What is the reason for these changes? There is no exact information. Perhaps the Soviet authorities did not want problems with the law, because for a long time the three-color electric traffic light was patented by the Americans, and you had to pay for using this model.
And when in 1959 most countries of the world (including the Soviet Union) joined the International Convention on Road Traffic, the tricolor traffic light with red, yellow and green colors became common and ceased to be the property of Potts and Harris.
Modern traffic lights in the Russian Federation
After adapting the light systemadjusting devices to the standards of the International Convention on Road Traffic for almost thirty years there have been no special innovations in this area.
After the collapse of the USSR in the Russian Federation, it became possible to work more closely with inventors from all over the world. Thanks to this, in the nineties, such an innovation as an LED traffic light appeared in the Russian Federation.
This device could not only show colored light, but also different figures (little men, arrows or numbers). For the first time such an innovation was introduced in Sarov.
Where in Russia is the monument to the first traffic light
Today in Russia there are tens of thousands of lighting devices for traffic control, which are municipal property. At the same time, even their presence does not always keep citizens from breaking the rules.
As part of the program to prevent such actions, on 25.07.2006 the first traffic light monument in the Russian Federation was opened in Novosibirsk.
In the coming years, similar projects were implemented in some other cities of the country.
For example, in Penza, near the Station Square, a real traffic light tree was created. It was made on the basis of the first such device installed in the city many years ago.
In 2008, a monument to a traffic police inspector was unveiled in Moscow, whom the locals immediately nicknamed "Uncle Styopa". Due to the presence of a massive traffic light in the sculptural composition, this memorial is also sometimes called the Moscow monument to the three-eyed guard.
Another similar composition was opened in Perm in 2010
What other monuments to light traffic controllers exist
However, not only in the Russian Federation, monuments are erected to this most useful invention.
For example, in the birthplace of the first traffic light - in London, in 1999, the Traffic Light Tree was installed, consisting of seventy-five three-eyed traffic controllers.
There is also a similar monument in the Israeli city of Eilat. It is paradoxical, but here, except for the traffic light tree, there are no other such devices anywhere else, since there are no intersections in this settlement.
