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, like a traffic light. Let's find out 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 sorting out 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 worldwide for the supply of light signals with the aim of regulating the movement of automobile / railway / water or other types of transport, as well as pedestrians at specialized crossings intended for them.
Interestingly, in most languages, there are proper 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, light, light.
In English, this is traffic light (literally “lights for movement”), 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 types
Depending on the scope of application, these types of traffic lights are distinguished:
- Road and street.
- Rail.
- River.
Each of them has a number of subspecies and types. For example, there are 18 of them in railway transport, and 4 in road-street transport (depending on the orientation on the participants of the movement: motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, and in some countries on route vehicles).
Also, traffic lights differ in the type of signaling. The traditional form is a circle glowing with the necessary color. However, since the end of the twentieth century. flashing arrows or men became widespread. In addition, many modern traffic lights are equipped with a countdown function.
Why did you need such a device?
Before moving on to the history of the appearance of the first traffic light in the world and on the territory of Russia, it is worthwhile to find out why there was a need for such an unusual vehicle.
The need for the order of movement of carriages, riders and pedestrians on city streets arose many centuries before the invention of automobiles. Even in ancient Rome, Julius Caesar tried to introduce at least some rules of the road, but this idea did not produce results.
In the Middle Ages, more than once an attempt was made to regulate movement on the streets, but even then nothing came of it.
The main reason for such failures was that, in spite of any laws, the advantage of travel always remained with the nobility. That is, in fact, nobles and wealthy 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 becoming the cause of accidents.
With the invention of trams and cars, as well as an increase in their number, the question of the need to regulate their movement became even more relevant. 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 Parliament building in the capital of Great Britain on 12/10/1868.
Designed the world's first traffic light by John Peak Knight. In fairness, it is worth saying that he did not invent this device, but modified the traditional model of railway semaphores, in which he was well versed.
Unlike classical models, the first device shone only in the dark, when signals were supplied using rotated green and red gas lamps. In the afternoon, the first traffic light was controlled using two semaphore arrows.
Despite all the advantages of this innovation, without standing even a month, Knight's device exploded. After such an enchanting failure, the device was not restored.
The evolution of light devices for adjusting movement
Although the first traffic light (photo above) did not work well, many people liked the idea of using a control device. Moreover, in future years in most countries of the world came to the need to create laws of movement for cars, which began to pose a serious threat to pedestrians' lives. For this reason, in 1909, the uniform rules for the road for Europe, as well as a system of signaling signs, were finally approved in Paris.
In response to this, the first automated traffic light Ernst Sirrin was patented in Chicago (USA) the following year.
Unlike the British version, this one was not highlighted because it consisted of plates with Stop and Proceed inscriptions. His main innovation was the autonomy of the device: for his work, the presence of a controlling person was not necessary.
Two years later, the United States appeared even more revolutionary form of the device in question - an electric one. It was invented by Lester Wyre and could already glow in two colors: red and green.
Two years later, all in the same United States, a new version of the device in question was put into operation, patented by James Hog. Unlike the Vaira fixture, this one was still able to make a sharp sound.
Despite the fact that the Hog device was the most successful at that time, American inventors continued to work on improving it.
In 1920, William Potts and John F. Harris proposed for the first time in the world to use 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 across the ocean and put in Paris and Hamburg the first three-color devices for adjusting the movement of cars. Five years later, in 1927, the invention of Potts and Harris became widely used in Great Britain.
When and where did the first traffic light appear in the USSR (Russia)
Throughout the centuries, roads have been one of the main problems in the Russian Empire. 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 first build normal roads. Moreover, after the revolution of 1917 and the Civil War in the newly formed young state, there were already many problems.
However, by 1930, the USSR government decided to try to establish American innovation. Due to the fact that the capital of the country was overloaded with immigrants, it was inconvenient to conduct such experiments in it - because to set up a traffic light, it was necessary to stop the movement, which the authorities could not afford at that time. 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 December appeared in Moscow on the corner of Petrovka and the Kuznetsk bridge.
Further history of distribution in the USSR
After the first traffic light was installed in the capital of the USSR, another three years in the state considered the need for such vehicles in other settlements. The first city (after two capitals of Russia) in which such devices were installed was Rostov-on-Don.
On the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, the first traffic light appeared in Kharkov in 1936.
In future years, such devices began to appear in other major cities of the country.
Features of Soviet traffic lights
Despite borrowing the American design of this unit, Soviet engineers experimented for some time with its color scheme.
Initially, instead of green, blue was used. In addition, the colors were arranged in the reverse order: blue above, red below.
What is the reason for such changes? No exact information. Perhaps the USSR 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 it was necessary 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, then the three-color traffic light with red, yellow and green colors became generally accepted and ceased to be the property of Potts and Harris.
Modern traffic lights in the Russian Federation
After adapting the system of light adjusting devices to the norms of the International Convention on Road Traffic for almost thirty years, no special innovations in this area arose.
After the collapse of the USSR, the opportunity arose to work more closely with inventors around the world. Due to this, in the nineties in the Russian Federation there was such an innovation as LED traffic light.
This unit could not only show colored light, but also different shapes (people, 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 light devices for traffic control, which are municipal property. Moreover, even their presence does not always deter citizens from breaking the rules.
As part of the program for the prevention of such actions July 25, 2006 in Novosibirsk was opened the first monument to the traffic light in the Russian Federation.
In future years, similar projects were implemented in some other cities of the country.
For example, in Penza, near the Railway 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 the traffic police inspector was unveiled in Moscow, which 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 discovered in Perm in 2010.
What other monuments exist for traffic light controllers
However, not only in the Russian Federation monuments are erected to this most useful invention .
For example, in the homeland 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. Paradoxically, here, besides a traffic light tree, there are no such devices anywhere else, since there are no intersections in this village.