The Greatest Invention of All Time
by The answer may surprise you…
No, the greatest invention of all time is not the wheel as I think that it is rather simple to figure out. No it is not the Internet, as the Internet was not invented with gadgets and stuff. No, I think the greatest invention of all time is the stop light.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_light
The first traffic light was made in 1869 in England but only consisted of 2 colors, red and green, these lights were used for trains as the first automobile was not on the road for 50 more years. Later they feared that the lights changed to quickly so they added a buzzer to warn trains that a stop was near. These original lights were not automatic and were controlled by policeman standing by.
The first traffic light with three colors was first patented by a man in Detroit, where they added the third color indicating to slow down. At this time in history, because traffic lights were so sparse they were ignored and people would drive through uncaring. This traffic light was again manual; controlled by the firemen nearby.
The first automatic traffic light was made in Houston in 1922.
Why is it the Greatest?
Think about it. If you are driving down a heavily crowded road with a bunch of lights and suddenly they all go out. You are then stuck with treating the lights like a stop sign and one at a time cars come from four different directions and it is just a mess. It is ingenious that you can have a steady flow of traffic for a bit and then stop them and have another direction of traffic go. And it is so genius.
Traffic lights will forever more be a very vital part of society, and as the population grows and more cars are on the road the need for lights is tremendous. I am glad someone came up with such a great idea.
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Post Commentken bultman
On September 9, 2009 at 4:18 am
Good point. Won’t argue.
martie
On September 9, 2009 at 8:01 am
great article. Won’t say it is the greatest invention, but it certainly is a darn good one.
N. Lloyd Andrews
On September 9, 2009 at 8:11 am
Nice. And if you think about it. The design remains un-changed except the addition of left-turn arrows.
The basic 3-light concept has worked so well.
I like how this piece gets one to think about something that we all take for granted.
Nikita K
On September 9, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I don’t think it is the best invention but it is one of the most important inventions ever. It would be pandemonium without them and it is one of those inventions that has really set up in all parts of the world. Now some traffic lights have count downs to them as well and come in all shapes and sizes. Good article.
Joe Dorish
On September 9, 2009 at 2:11 pm
In Brazil people just roll through red lights which is weird at first but you get used to it real fast.
agriculi
On September 20, 2009 at 1:58 pm
The same counts for Athens, don’t trust a green light there either.