1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:12,719 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. So, Tracy, 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: traffic lights are part of everyday life. I mean, I 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: grew up in a place that had none that now 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: has a blinker light. But still, I grew up in 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: a place that are where the area we lived did 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: not have any, and now it has dozens. Um. It 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: grew very quickly, but they're pretty common at this point, 10 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: and both pedestrians and drivers tend to count on them, 11 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: particularly in cities. And recently, as I was sitting in 12 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:45,599 Speaker 1: my car at a stop late late at night, I 13 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,239 Speaker 1: was on my way home from the year, and the 14 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: light refused to turn. Uh, So I eventually had to 15 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: make a right turn instead of the left turn I 16 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: was trying to make, and then you turned so that 17 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: I could get through that intersection without breaking laws. And 18 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: it got me to wondering who invented traffic lights? Also 19 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: because it was late at night. My brain works that 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: way when I'm me Andrey uh. And it turns out 21 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: that if you google that question, you get a whole 22 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: lot of different answers. So I thought it might be 23 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: fun to look at a few of the moments in 24 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: traffic light history that got us where we are today 25 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: and talk about some of those various contenders to the 26 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: who did it first question. But before we get into 27 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: the traffic lights origins, we're going to cover a little 28 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: bit of what made traffic lights and necessity in the 29 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: first place. That, of course was cars, and cars have 30 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: a whole history all on their own because of like 31 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: a lot of other inventions, a whole lot of different 32 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,199 Speaker 1: inventions had to happen to get to the point where 33 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: there was a vehicle they could actually carry a driver 34 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: and get somewhere. It wasn't as though one person was 35 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: kind of toiling away with the idea and then a 36 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: car popped out of their workshop fully formed. And this 37 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: is an issue that comes with some debate about who 38 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: should get credit for what, similar to the development of 39 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: the airplane. So we're not here to tease out that 40 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: nicular debate today. We're going to focus on the debate 41 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: of traffic lights. But it is worth noting some of 42 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: the inventions along the way. So Nicola Joseph Kunio, for example, 43 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: built a steam powered tractor for the French military in 44 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,519 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty nine, and that could reach the blistering speed 45 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: of about two point five miles per hour. And an 46 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,919 Speaker 1: electric carriage was being worked on in Scotland by a 47 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 1: man named Robert Anderson as really as the eighteen thirties. 48 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: But it's Carl Friedrich Benz who usually gets the credit 49 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: for inventing the first vehicle that someone might actually call 50 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 1: a car or automobile in terms of how we think 51 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: of it today. In the mid eighteen eighties, he came 52 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: up with a design for a gasoline vehicle powered by 53 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: an internal combustion engine. This car had three wheels, and 54 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: he patented it in his home country of Germany. In 55 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy six, George Baldwin Selden, a US inventor, started 56 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: designing a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. Also, he 57 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: never built one of his cars, which was designed with 58 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: four wheels, but he did get a patent for it, 59 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: and then he licensed that patent to other manufacturers. In 60 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: eight six, Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler improved on previous efforts with 61 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: his auto called a Constant Daimler, which featured four wheels, 62 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: and a four stroke internal combustion engine. In Einee, Brothers 63 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: Charles and Edgar Dryer became the first US auto manufacturers 64 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: with their car, which had a four horsepower two stroke motor. 65 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: Things really got moving at the dawn of the twentieth century. 66 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen o one, Diamler's company produced a Mercedes that 67 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,639 Speaker 1: jumped the industry forward. It could go as fast as 68 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: fifty three miles per hour and it had a thirty 69 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: five horsepower engine. Not everyone was keeping pace with the 70 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: level of engineering that was coming out of Germany, but 71 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: the Mercedes was not something everyone could afford or have 72 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: access to. About the same time, Ransom eat Old's introduced 73 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: a much cheaper vehicle in the United States that was 74 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: far less powerful, and we had three horsepower. Who was 75 00:03:57,640 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: steered with a tiller? Yeah, I like to think of 76 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: the things happening can currently like this goes fifty three 77 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: miles per hour. It's super fast and pretty amazing. I 78 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: got a tiller, but it was It worked in the 79 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: United States. The rise of the automobile's popularity is credited, 80 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: of course, to Henry Ford. It was Ford who managed 81 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: to keep up with the latest innovation and make cars 82 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: more accessible to a wider range of incomes. For example, 83 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 1: that Tiller situation was very affordable but not really technologically advanced, 84 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: and Ford kind of married these two concepts. By nineteen 85 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: o six, Ford Motor Company was turning out one hundred 86 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: cars a day from its production line. The fifteen horsepower 87 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: Ford Model N, which was in production from nineteen o 88 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: six to nineteen o seven, sold for six hundred dollars, 89 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: and its success was what led to the development of 90 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: the Model T, which debuted in its earliest incarnation in 91 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,239 Speaker 1: October of nineteen o eight with a twenty horsepower engine, 92 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: and it cost eight hundred twenty five dollars. From that point, 93 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: Ford continued to refine the Model T for the next 94 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: nineteen years, with subsequent editions of the car coming in 95 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: at lower and lower price points, falling all the way 96 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: down to less than three hundred dollars in nine seven. So, naturally, 97 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: with more and more people able to afford motor cars, 98 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: roads got busier and busier, and that led to the 99 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: rather predictable problems of traffic and accidents. It's estimated that 100 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: by nineteen thirteen, there were two million drivers in the 101 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: US and one point two million vehicles on the road. 102 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: At this point, the rules of the road were pretty nebulous. 103 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 1: In more rural areas, while roads were less established, there 104 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: were also not all that many drivers, but in cities, 105 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: population density also meant traffic density. Also, in nineteen thirteen, 106 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 1: New York City was said to have gotten to the 107 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: point where it had two traffic jams each day at 108 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: peak hours. Chicago was experiencing slow down of its city 109 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: trolley service because the main thoroughfares became jammed, making it 110 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: difficult to maintain a regular schedule. By nineteen sixteen, San 111 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: Francisco had twenty six thousand cars on the streets, as 112 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,799 Speaker 1: well as ten thousand horse buggies. So there's also that uh, 113 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: multiple different kinds of vehicles taking up the road problem, 114 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 1: and there was often talk in major cities that traffic 115 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: made automobiles slower than horse carts. Uh. Some people abandoned 116 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: cars pretty early on for this very reason they thought 117 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: it was not in fact an advancement. Press around the 118 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: globe featured stories debating the merits of cars and whether 119 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: they really represented a step forward or backward. And while 120 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: early cars were developed in Europe, especially France and Germany, 121 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: the costs remained high enough there that the increase in 122 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: motor traffic didn't pace as quickly as it did in 123 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: the United States. Europe didn't really start to have traffic 124 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 1: issues until the mid nineteen twenties. So you have probably 125 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: seen photographs of city streets from this era where there 126 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: are street cars, pedestrians, horse drawn carriages, and cars all 127 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,159 Speaker 1: on the road at the same time. It almost always 128 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 1: looks pretty chaotic. Uh. That is because it was. Even 129 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,359 Speaker 1: though larger cities sometimes stationed police at busy intersects to 130 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: try to manage things, that was not a super effective 131 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: way to do it, since there also wasn't always a 132 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 1: really clear set of rules or signals that all of 133 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: those motorists, pedestrians, etcetera. Would all recognize, and it tended 134 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: to be a lot of honking cars and whistle blowing 135 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: and everyone still kind of doing what they wanted and 136 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: hopefully getting out of the way. The National Safety Council 137 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: started tracking automobile related deaths in nineteen thirteen, and that 138 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: year four thousand, two hundred people died in an accident 139 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: in Cleveland kind of brought this problem into a sharp focus. 140 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: There was a March dinner party that had ended and 141 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: George Harbor, who was an oil magnet, was driving home 142 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: and when he turned onto the city's busy Euclid Avenue, 143 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: his car was hit by a street car and there 144 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: were no fatalities in this particular case, although that was 145 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: considered rather miraculous and it did make the papers and 146 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: kind of started a bigger discussion about it. Even before 147 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: traffic accidents got to be a big issue. Enterprising problem 148 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: solvers were on the case and depending on how you 149 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: define a traffic light, there are a few contenders for 150 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: the title of first. We'll talk about all those different 151 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: firsts after we take a quick sponsor break. So before 152 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: the break we mentioned lots of different efforts at controlling traffic, 153 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: and that means first we're going to talk about a 154 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:23,239 Speaker 1: man named John Peak Knight. He was born in Nottingham, England, 155 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: in eight and from the time he was just a 156 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: child he really loved trains. He left school at the 157 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: age of twelve so that he could work at the 158 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 1: Midland Railway Company. Although that was a job that was 159 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: in the mail room. It wasn't working directly with trains, 160 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: but just the same it started his railway career and 161 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: he continued to work for railway companies as he moved 162 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: up the industry ladder. He's sort of that classic like 163 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: I started in the mail room and eventually I started 164 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: running things um and he was really good in terms 165 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: of having an eye for solving problems. For example, the BBC, 166 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: in an article about him, credited him as the inventor 167 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: of emergency brake chords in trains. In eighteen sixty five, 168 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: when he was in his late thirties, Night had an idea. 169 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,319 Speaker 1: He had already been designing signaling systems for trains and 170 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: couldn't that same system be adapted for use on the 171 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: roads again. In eighteen sixty five, you'll recall from the 172 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: top of the show that while there were some attempts 173 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: that motorized vehicles that had been made before this time, 174 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: there really weren't cars as we think of them in existence, 175 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: but there were more and more horse drawn carriages. They 176 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 1: were turning into a traffic problem and more importantly a 177 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:33,679 Speaker 1: safety issue for pedestrians. So Nights suggested to the Commissioner 178 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 1: of Metropolitan Police that he could adapt the semaphore system 179 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: used for trains to help with managing road traffic. So 180 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: his design featured arms that were held in specific positions 181 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: to signal whether it was safe to pass, and for 182 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: nighttime travelers, this system would switch over to using red 183 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: and green lights. Those were colors which were adapted from 184 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: railway usage, and the railways had adapted those from maritime signals. 185 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: Three years after having this idea night's design was installed 186 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: on December nine, eight sixty eight, near London's Westminster Bridge 187 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: and the intersection of Great George Street and Bridge Street. 188 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: A police officer had to operate the signals and to 189 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,719 Speaker 1: educate the public, flyers were posted that explained how these 190 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: lights worked. They showed images of the semaphore arms lowered 191 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: at an angle which meant you could proceed but with caution, 192 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: and with the arms raised so that they were parallel 193 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: with the ground and that meant stop. And these flyers 194 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: also explained that the green and red lights would be 195 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: used at night. The copy on the flyers read police 196 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: Notice street crossing signals Bridge Street, New Palace Yard. By 197 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,720 Speaker 1: the signal caution, all persons in charge of vehicles and 198 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 1: horses are warned to pass over the crossing with care 199 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: and do regard to the safety of foot passengers. The 200 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: signal stop will only be displayed when it is necessary 201 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: that vehicles and horses shall be actually stopped on each 202 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: side of the crossing to allow the passage of persons 203 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: on foot. Notice being this given to all persons in 204 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,719 Speaker 1: charge of via coals and horses to stop clear of 205 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: the crossing. Richard Maine, Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police 206 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: and once installed, this traffic light had a pretty immediate 207 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: positive effect. People understood what it was about, they had 208 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: been educated, traffic was kind of under control. But unfortunately 209 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: it was a short lived project. In early eighteen sixty nine, 210 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 1: so just around a month after it had been installed, 211 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,960 Speaker 1: during an evening shift, one of the gas lamps that 212 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: was used for the light based night signaling exploded due 213 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: to a faulty gas meme and the policeman that was 214 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: on duty was very badly burned and night system was 215 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: immediately abandoned and the United States, early efforts were made 216 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:41,439 Speaker 1: in a number of cities to try to control traffic 217 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: before traffic signals came along, and they had variable success. 218 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 1: There was no one way to do it, so everybody 219 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: was trying their own thing. Some cities started using sign 220 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: systems that read things along the lines of stop or proceed. 221 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: These didn't light up, so they weren't as much help 222 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: at night, which was, unfortunately when were needed the most. 223 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: In nineteen twelve, a Salt Lake City, Utah policeman named 224 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: Lester Wire created his own traffic light. Wire was born 225 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: on September three, eight eight seven in Salt Lake, and 226 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: as a young man, he enrolled at the University of Utah, 227 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 1: but the financial strain of paying for school ended his 228 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,320 Speaker 1: education early. He left college in nineteen ten, and at 229 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 1: that point he took a job on the city's police force. 230 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen twelve, the Salt Lake City p D formed 231 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: a new division to deal with traffic, and Wire was 232 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: put in charge of that division. He had to figure 233 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: out a way to make order out of the growing 234 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: problem of having trolley's, pedestrian buggies, and cars all traveling 235 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: the same roadways. At first, he wrote regulations and rules 236 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,319 Speaker 1: to manage the traffic. Those were Salt Lake Cities first 237 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: traffic laws, and he positioned a police officer at the 238 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: city's busiest intersection to direct the traffic. But he realized 239 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 1: pretty quickly that while it did help to have an 240 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: officer directing traffic, this approach did not seem terribly efficient, 241 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: and it was actually a pretty hard job for the 242 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 1: officers involved. They would have to keep that position manned 243 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: in all kinds of weather, and shifts were often really, 244 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: really long, and there was also just the inherent danger 245 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: of standing in traffic trying to enforce entirely new regulations. 246 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: These concerns lead Wire to start working on his traffic light. 247 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: His light is often described as looking like a bird house, 248 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:23,959 Speaker 1: and that's apt, although in terms of its size it's 249 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: closer to a little fort area in a cat condo. 250 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: It had two round holes on each of its four 251 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: faces and was mounted on a tin foot pole. It 252 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: had red and green lights thanks to bulbs that Lester 253 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: Wire dipped into paint. This was attached to overhead trolley 254 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: wires and was manually operated by a police officer using switches. 255 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,840 Speaker 1: So although it's still had to have a person operating 256 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: it in this roadside booth, it remained an improvement over 257 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: standing in the middle of the street to direct the 258 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: traffic wires. Invention inspired additional innovation, and it continued to 259 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: impact Salt Lake City as a frontrunner in traffic control. 260 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventeen, Salt Lake City became the first city 261 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: in the United States with an interconnected traffic light system, 262 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: which was automated by the mid nineteen twenties. Wire did 263 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: not get rich off of this. He didn't patent his system. 264 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: He continued working on the police force and eventually became 265 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 1: a detective, which is what he did until he retired. Cleveland, though, 266 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: often gets the claim to fame for the first electric light, 267 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: and that was thanks to engineer James Hodge. Hodges design 268 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: included the words stop and go on light up signs 269 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: that sat on the four corners of an intersection, and 270 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: he had not yet received a patent on his traffic 271 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: light when he installed it, but it went up on 272 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: August five, nineteen fourteen, at the intersection of Euclid Avenue 273 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: and A hundred and fiftry. You'll recall that story about 274 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: the person in a bad accident took place on Euclid Avenue, 275 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: so that was part of why it was considered a 276 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: good candidate for something like this. Unlike today's lights, hodges 277 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: invention wasn't on a timer or automated in any way 278 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: to change. With an inductive loop embedded in the road, 279 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: his light also had human operator. A policeman was stationed 280 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: in a booth on the side of the intersection. He 281 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: manually changed the lights or red to green with a switch. 282 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: The system was designed to prevent any accidental conflicts and 283 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: the signals, which some other systems had encountered, which is 284 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: also sometimes a problem on trains, which is one of 285 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: the earlier inspirations for these ideas. Yeah, this one like 286 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: automatically you would have to cut off a signal from 287 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: one side to have the other one lit, so that 288 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: it fixed that little problem. Additionally, the Cleveland system had 289 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: a function that could trigger all of the lights to 290 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: go red at once. It was basically like one master 291 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: switch that the policeman on duty could flip and that 292 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: would allow emergency vehicles to pass without obstruction, which is 293 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: kind of a cool design. Additional safety elements were included 294 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: in the controller's booth. It actually had a telephone, and 295 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: it had two telegraph lines directly to the police and 296 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: the fire department. Hodge applied for a patent for his design. 297 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: The Municipal Traffic Control System received that pattern in nineteen eighteen, 298 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: but before that patent was issued, the first automated system 299 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: had been installed in San Francisco, and there are more 300 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: innovators to talk about in the traffic lights origin story. 301 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: But before we get to all those, we're going to 302 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: hear from one of the sponsors that keep stuff you 303 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: missed in history class going. So while Hodge was awaiting 304 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: his patent, another innovation was also developing in nineteen seventeen, 305 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: this time in Detroit, Michigan. William Potts was a Detroit 306 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: policeman born in eighteen eighties three who saw the need 307 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: for additional information for motorists in this whole UH traffic 308 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: light plan. He thought maybe they should warn them about 309 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: an impending red light. So it was Potts who added 310 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: the yellow light to the traffic light equation that was 311 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: first put into use in nineteen twenty. He also innovated 312 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: by developing the first four direction light. Garrett Morgan was 313 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: another man who saw the need for a transitional warning 314 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: in between driving and stopping. Morgan was born on March fourth, 315 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy seven, in Paris, Kentucky. He was the son 316 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: of a formerly enslaved man as his father Sydney Morgan, 317 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: and his mother was Elizabeth Reid, who was of Native 318 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: American and African descent, and Morgan left school to work 319 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 1: full time in his early teens. He was incredibly clever 320 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: when it came to figuring out how machines worked and 321 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: just being able to see a problem and solve it. 322 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,199 Speaker 1: And actually he was also really interested in continuing his 323 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: education because when he started to earn money from his 324 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 1: first job, which was a handyman, he was working for 325 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:35,359 Speaker 1: a fairly wealthy employer, he used that money to hire 326 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: a tutor so he could continue to get educated. He 327 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,400 Speaker 1: worked in the sewing machine industry, repairing and refining machine design, 328 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 1: developed a chemical relaxer for hair, and also created an 329 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,400 Speaker 1: early gas mask. In nine Thanks once again to his ingenuity, 330 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,160 Speaker 1: he became part of the history of traffic lights. Morgan's 331 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 1: decision to work on the traffic problem allegedly came from 332 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,399 Speaker 1: having witnessed an accident in an intersection, and he was 333 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: also a risk. He was the first black man in Cleveland, 334 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: where he was living at the time, to own a car, 335 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,520 Speaker 1: and he saw that cars that suddenly saw a stop 336 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: signal weren't always able to break in a timely manner 337 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: before they got into the middle of the intersection. So 338 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: he was like, we should tell them the red lights coming. 339 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: So Morgan's design was a T shape with arms that 340 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,199 Speaker 1: transitioned from straight up to down at an angle, with 341 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: positions for the arms that designated different messages. Morgan was 342 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: savvy in business and patented his invention not only in 343 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: the US but also in Canada and Britain, and then 344 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: sold the patent to General Electric for forty dollars. Morgan 345 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 1: has a pretty fantastic life story, so he might get 346 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: an episode all his own at some point. Yeah, there's 347 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: a whole story about him, unrelated to any of this 348 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 1: traffic business, really doing some heroic things and never getting 349 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: credit because he was a black man until much later 350 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: in the game. He also, just like I said, was 351 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: mind blowing lee smart, which always fascinates me. Automatic timers, 352 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: developed in World War One helped move traffic light technology forward. 353 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,239 Speaker 1: Once the war was over, and while some efforts had 354 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: been made in automatic lights that required no policemen to 355 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: manually flip switches, in the nineteen twenties, the technology rapidly 356 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: became the rule rather than the exception. There were almost 357 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: one hundred automatic lights in New York by ninety six, 358 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,199 Speaker 1: and that freed up literally thousands of police personnel that 359 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: had been standing in intersections to work on other vital rules. 360 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: I think I saw a statistic that of like three 361 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: thousand officers who routinely were positioned at traffic intersections, they 362 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:32,919 Speaker 1: were able to drop that back to five hundred that 363 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: routinely kept doing it. By n most US cities and 364 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: towns had installed some sort of stop light system, and 365 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,240 Speaker 1: to some degree they became emblems of progress and madernity, 366 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:45,919 Speaker 1: while towns without them came to be regarded with a 367 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,639 Speaker 1: measure of disdain. I would say that's still the case 368 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:51,640 Speaker 1: for a lot of folks who grew up in places 369 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: that don't have them just because they're too small. Ye. 370 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: The pejorative use of the phrase one horse town came 371 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:01,560 Speaker 1: to suggest the insignificant place, uh, and that shifted over 372 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 1: time to the one stoplight town, although both continue to 373 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: be used. I feel like I hear one worst town 374 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:12,239 Speaker 1: more often, just personally, I use one one stop light 375 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: town more often, possibly because I grew up in one 376 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,199 Speaker 1: and was like, which is terrible. Don't talk that way 377 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: about anybody's town. Other people live there and love it. 378 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,159 Speaker 1: Maybe that's because I grew up in a place that 379 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: had more horses than stoplights, which again was zero. Maybe uh. 380 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: International adoption of traffic lights was a little slower, but 381 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: in Paris installed its first traffic light. At that point 382 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: it was only red, so it was like you could 383 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: either go or the red would light up in that 384 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,399 Speaker 1: meant stop. It didn't have the intermittent different messaging or 385 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: like proceed with caution. Berlin joined in with traffic light 386 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: installation in n It was almost before London really embraced 387 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: street lights. There had been a few that popped up 388 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,359 Speaker 1: here and there, but the invention of the electric traffic 389 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,439 Speaker 1: signal offered a safer alternative to the gas light system 390 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 1: that admit its catastrophic end in the eighteen sixties, so 391 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: they were a little more willing to adopt them again. 392 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: And once the US had started to achieve a level 393 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: of uniformity and its stop lights across the country, which 394 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,400 Speaker 1: happened kind of organically in some ways because people were 395 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: noticing other each other's designs and kind of all working 396 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,679 Speaker 1: on improving everything together, and once they kind of started 397 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,159 Speaker 1: to get pretty uniform, other countries would just adopt the 398 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: US models. Yeah, it's like if you haven't traveled a 399 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: ton in the US, it's like the traffic lights aren't 400 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,880 Speaker 1: really identical from one state to another, but they're they're 401 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: similar enough that you can make sense of them. Yeah, 402 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: you always know, like you're going to see the lights 403 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: stacked pretty much in the same order. If it's a 404 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: vertical stop lights. Some are are horizontally laid out. But yeah, 405 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: you're you're not gonna like suddenly drive into another state 406 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: and be like, WHOA, I don't know what any of 407 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 1: these signals mean. They're pretty uniform as long as you 408 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,480 Speaker 1: are not color blind, which which it is. The color 409 00:21:55,520 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: combination that's not great in terms of color blindness us. 410 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: With the introduction of any new technology, though, there was 411 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,880 Speaker 1: backlash to all these new lights. Detractors felt if a 412 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: mechanism on the road managed the flow of traffic, people 413 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: would stop paying attention to each other. They're also concerned 414 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: that this would lead to social isolation for motorists, and 415 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: even more concerning, that lack of connection would lead people 416 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: to treat each other with more impatience and less respect. 417 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,440 Speaker 1: It's like these folks who were probably labeled as alarmists 418 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,639 Speaker 1: at the time, we're pretty apprecient. Nobody had coined the 419 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: term road rage at that point. To combat these concerns, 420 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,479 Speaker 1: some auto clubs in the nineteen, teams started sponsoring courtesy weeks, 421 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: where motorists were urged to treat other drivers as well 422 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: as pedestrians with extra respect. I sort of love that, Um, 423 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,639 Speaker 1: let's have a week where we're extra extra nice. I 424 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: think we should have courtesy weeks for everything. But as 425 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: as a pedestrian, the overwhelming amount of the time, I agree, Yeah, 426 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,199 Speaker 1: I mean, and some of that too, I feel like, 427 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 1: is just because like if you grow up like in 428 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: a place, or if you live in a place where 429 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: there isn't much pedestrian traffic and then you move to 430 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: somewhere where there is, Like there have been times because 431 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: growing up we didn't have a lot of pedestrian traffic 432 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: in my town where I drew all the time, and 433 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:17,159 Speaker 1: then when I was suddenly driving in a city, I 434 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: was like, whoa, I gotta watch for people. Uh. It's 435 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: easy to not have flexed that muscle and have to 436 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: learn it at slightly slower ramp. Yeah, that's also true 437 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 1: with with bikes. If you've never driven a place that 438 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 1: had brought of bike traffic and bike lanes, it's a 439 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: totally different awareness. Like the amount of time it takes 440 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:39,199 Speaker 1: a bike to get to you versus the amount of 441 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: time it takes a pedestrian to get to you or 442 00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: just totally different. Uh. Yeah. And there was another big 443 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: concern in the midst of all of these traffic lights 444 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,479 Speaker 1: being adopted, particularly as they became automated, was that if 445 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 1: there was not a police officer present, people felt that 446 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:58,680 Speaker 1: most motorists would just disregard the lights anyway. That isn't 447 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 1: entirely off base. Of course, in the modern era, there 448 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,400 Speaker 1: have been cameras installed on a lot of stop lights. 449 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,399 Speaker 1: They're not everywhere, but certainly there are many uh to 450 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: combat this problem because that was a legitimate concern. People 451 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 1: will look around and run a light if there's not 452 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 1: a policeman present. Sometimes. Incidentally, if you ever played that 453 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 1: game red Light, Green Light when you're a kid, you 454 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: can thank Cleveland's education system. Maybe. The Smithsonian article from 455 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: eighteen mentions that a school teacher in Cleveland came up 456 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: with the game in nineteen nineteen to help children learn 457 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,160 Speaker 1: and understand the new rules of the road as governed 458 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,120 Speaker 1: by traffic lights. But in a two thousand eight obituary, 459 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: The l A Times credited children's TV host Bill Stula 460 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,160 Speaker 1: with inventing the game. Is a way to get kids 461 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 1: to drink milk in the early nineteen fifties, so totally 462 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: different purpose. They are also variations of this game played 463 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: around the world. Yeah, that I feel like we don't 464 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: really know for sure what the origins of green light are, 465 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,640 Speaker 1: but I thought it was worth a mention. Um, So 466 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: you may be wondering what was the net benefit of 467 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 1: the establishment of stop lights and other safety measure years, 468 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:02,680 Speaker 1: and if you look strictly at the number of fatalities, 469 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: it might seem like things got worse instead of better. 470 00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: We mentioned earlier, for example, that people died as a 471 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: result of car crashes in nineteen thirteen in the US 472 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,479 Speaker 1: and in twenty seventeen the number was forty thousand, two 473 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 1: hundred thirty one. But if you actually break it down 474 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: in terms of numbers of fatalities, as that's related to 475 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: the numbers of vehicles on the road, that situation changes 476 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:27,800 Speaker 1: in a hurry. In nineteen thirteen, thirty three point three 477 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: eight people died for every ten thousand vehicles on the road. 478 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: At death rate in seventeen was one point four seven 479 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: per ten thousand vehicles. Yeah, you have to adjust for 480 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,159 Speaker 1: a population density there. You can't just go with flat numbers. Um. 481 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 1: Things did not immediately get better, though, they kind of 482 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: got better, and then they got a little bit worse. 483 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 1: It took time for various cities and towns to start 484 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: adopting traffic lights into their roadways, and even longer, as 485 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: we said, for there to be uniformity across those and 486 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:01,120 Speaker 1: other municipalities. Things reached their absolutely worst in terms of 487 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: death statistics on roadways in nine seven, but from that 488 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 1: year they have fallen pretty consistently. Yeah, and maybe a 489 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: less concretely quantifiable since there's also been a lot of 490 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: discussion lately about cities being built in a way that 491 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: prioritizes cars and what that means for everything from pollution 492 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,239 Speaker 1: to pedestrians being able to get anywhere and whatnot. And 493 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,359 Speaker 1: you could definitely look at that traffic lights and how 494 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: they were implemented as a piece of all of that. Yeah, 495 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,640 Speaker 1: and it is interesting, right, I mean, traffic lights were 496 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: not the only thing going on. People were like, hey, 497 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,199 Speaker 1: we should have some signs and stuff like what if 498 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: there were belts? Yeah, there were. There were some parallel 499 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,440 Speaker 1: developments going on in different avenues of of the traffic 500 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,920 Speaker 1: safety roadmap to really mix some metaphors up all crazy. Yeah, 501 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: but traffic lights are one of those things. And I'm, 502 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,480 Speaker 1: like I said, sort of fascinated when you think about it. Right, 503 00:26:55,520 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 1: when I think about um, Daimler or Bins or Henry Word, 504 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: I wonder if they could ever comprehend like the photos 505 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: that you see of like a modern city at rush 506 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 1: hour and like what happened. Um. It's an interesting thing. 507 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:12,959 Speaker 1: I know there are a lot of cities that are 508 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: also kind of pushing to remove as many cars from 509 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,879 Speaker 1: the road as possible, just in the interest of pollution 510 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: and and safety. And I'll be fascinated to see what 511 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,400 Speaker 1: happens in the next fifty years because cars are also evolving. 512 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: I have listener mail has nothing to do with cars. 513 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:36,640 Speaker 1: It does have things to do with my man, Thomas Harriet, um, 514 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,399 Speaker 1: who did things both good and bad. But this is 515 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,360 Speaker 1: from our listener Carl, who writes high big big fan. 516 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: And so it was really cool when you said the 517 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 1: name of my hometown and the Thomas Harriet episode. I 518 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: grew up and went to college in Durham, England. There 519 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,120 Speaker 1: is even a portrait of Harriet in the university. If 520 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: you ever get the chance to come visit, please do. 521 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: The whole town is like a living piece of history 522 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: because the university bought a lot of the abandoned historic 523 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: houses and buildings and uses them now as lecture halls. 524 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 1: Not only that, but some of the oldest buildings in 525 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 1: town we're always used by the college and its students. 526 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:10,120 Speaker 1: When I was studying, we had our meals in the castle, 527 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,360 Speaker 1: graduated in the cathedral, and had lectures in a Victorian 528 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,199 Speaker 1: erast school. It was always weird to be dead tired 529 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 1: eating cereal at five am before classes started, looking up 530 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: and seeing portraits from the sixteen hundreds. That sounds mind 531 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,960 Speaker 1: blowingly cool. I just think the town itself really captures 532 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,240 Speaker 1: the vibe of your show of history being fun and 533 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,440 Speaker 1: every day and all around, as well as being a 534 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,120 Speaker 1: beautiful place to visit. If this hasn't convinced you, there's 535 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: a postcard winging its way to you, guys as we 536 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: type speak regards Carl. That is so charming and such 537 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: a lovely way. I feel like for uh A university 538 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: to keep history alive forever. I think that sounds utterly spectacular. 539 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: So thank you so much Carl for writing us. If 540 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:53,960 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, you can do 541 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 1: so at history podcast at how stuff works dot com. 542 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: You can also find us everywhere on social media as 543 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: Missed in History. Missed in History dot com is also 544 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,120 Speaker 1: the website where you can find us that includes all 545 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 1: of our previous episodes uh and show notes on any 546 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: of the episodes that Tracy and I have worked on. 547 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 1: And if you would like to subscribe to the podcast, 548 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: we would like you to subscribe to the podcast. You 549 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: can do that at Apple Podcasts, on the I Heart 550 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:23,760 Speaker 1: Radio app, or wherever it is that you listen Stuffy. 551 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,960 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I heart 552 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: Radios How Stuff Works. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, 553 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 554 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.