Google Doodle remembers America’s first electric traffic light

Google's latest Doodle honouring America's first traffic light

THE first ever electric traffic light was installed in Cleveland, Ohio over 100 years ago.

 

Today, the Google Doodle showed an array of old jerky cars in black and white stuck at what was the only red light in the world.

The illustrator of the Doodle, Nate Swinehart, wanted to highlight the fact that the yellow light was not introduced until much later that century to regulate traffic.

 

The traffic light came as a relief for policemen who had previously directed busy traffic themselves even in the heart of winter, but it wasn’t the first attempt made to regulate heavy congestion. 

The UK installed gas-lit traffic lights in the 19^th century but they were proven ineffective, as they were known to spontaneously explode or simply go out.