There are holidays that many people don't even know exist. One of them is devoted to a subject that is familiar to literally every one of us - a traffic light. Traffic light day is celebrated both in the Russian Federation and in other countries. And considering the benefits this device brings to people, this fact is not surprising.
Knight's traffic light
In fact, the traffic light appeared not too long ago. John Peak Knight is considered its inventor. It was his apparatus that was installed next to the building of the London Parliament in 1868. This device had two semaphore wings. When they were raised, the pedestrian had to stop. If the wings were slightly lowered, the pedestrian could walk. Also, the design of this peculiar traffic light included a spinning gas lamp, which was used in the evening and at night. With its help, signals of green and red colors were generated.
It was necessary to switch the traffic light manually, and this was his obvious drawback. In early January 1869, a flashlight in Knight's apparatus exploded unexpectedly and injured the man who was controlling it. As a result, the idea of a traffic light was abandoned for several decades.
Automatic Hog devices and holiday date
On August 5, 1914, in Cleveland (USA), at the place where Euclid Avenue intersects with 105th Street, four automatic traffic lights were installed, developed and patented by engineer James Hog. They were already quite similar to modern ones, while in them, like in Knight's model, there were two signals - green and red.
And Traffic Light Day is currently celebrated annually all over the world on August 5 - in memory of an event that happened more than a century ago in Cleveland. In modern Russian realities, Traffic Light Day is an excellent occasion for traffic police officers and activists of relevant organizations to tell children and adults about the need to always comply with traffic rules, share significant information on this topic, etc.
Further history of traffic lights in the world and in the Russian Federation
In the twenties, traffic lights with three lanterns began to be installed in Chicago and New York - yellow was added to green and red. Gradually, similar devices began to appear in other cities in America, as well as in Europe.
And later than all, traffic lights began to be used, perhaps, in the DPRK - this happened already in the 21st century. However, even now, in this mysterious country, the movement of cars and pedestrians in many places is regulated "in the old fashioned way" - by people in uniform.
As for Russia, the traffic light was first installed here in January 1930 as an experiment - at the intersection of Liteiny and Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. The experiment was considered successful, and in December of the same 1930, an automatic traffic controller was installed at the intersection of Petrovka and Kuznetsky Most Street in Moscow. The next Russian city where a traffic light appeared was, according to available information, Rostov-on-Don.
Now, of course, there are traffic lights in every Russian city. And in some places you can even find monuments to this useful device. For example, such a monument exists in Novosibirsk. A funny sculptural composition depicts a guard who respectfully looks up at a traffic light and salutes it.
