1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh Clark, 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and this is short 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: stuff about the invention of the traffic light, which I thought, 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: until very recently I knew where the first one was, 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: but it turns out that is definitely up for debate 6 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: and probably even wrong. Yeah, you know, this was so 7 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: chuck full of stuff. I kind of wondered if it 8 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: could be a full link thing, but then I decided, no, 9 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: let's just chuck this stuff. A bunch of stuff in 10 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: this stuff. There you go, stuff it up, stuffer. So 11 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: did you think the first one was in Cleveland in 12 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: August of nineteen fourteen? Correct? Right, And that still gets 13 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: credit as such even though there are other traffic lights, 14 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:47,840 Speaker 1: And as we'll see with a lot of this stuff 15 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: we talked about, there are a lot of like little improvements, 16 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: whether they're automated, where they lit up and stuff like that. 17 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: So I think that's why there's a lot of competing claims. Yeah, 18 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: and it was one of those things where just a 19 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: lot of people contributed to what we know and love 20 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: as traffic lights today. I shouldn't say love what we 21 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 1: know and loathe in some cases as traffic lights today, 22 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,759 Speaker 1: because I'm sure I said as much in the Roundabouts episode. 23 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: There's maybe nothing worse than sitting at a traffic light. 24 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,839 Speaker 1: A red light when there is nobody coming from either 25 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: other direction is one of the worst things that can 26 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: happen to you that doesn't involve physical pain or grief. 27 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: That is true. Uh. We want to shout out History 28 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: dot Com, Rachel Ross from Life Science, and Larry Clark, 29 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: not the filmmaker, but Larry Clark who wrote something for 30 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: Washington State Magazine. Uh. And the book Highways to Heaven 31 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: colin the Auto Biography of America. And in that book 32 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: there's yeah a t o. There's a few other first 33 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: listed in that book which are kind of interesting. Um, 34 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: left hand driving became the standard in nineteen o eight 35 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: in America. That center dividing lines first started getting painted 36 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven in Michigan, and then the first no 37 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: left turn sign in nineteen sixteen in Buffalo, New York. Yeah, 38 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: and shout out to Christopher Finch, the author of that book. 39 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: That's right. But what about Britain They had an idea 40 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: about this long before nineteen Yeah, This to me is like, okay, well, 41 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: there we go. We have the first traffic signal in existence, 42 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 1: and it happened to be in London, in Westminster, UM 43 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: and it was based on a already um used design 44 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: that people used for for railroads to say hey you 45 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: can pass or no, don't pass. It was pretty much 46 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: what you were trying to get across. And a guy 47 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: who worked on the railroad, John peak Night, said, you 48 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: know what, we've got a lot of congestion with buggies 49 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: and carriages and maniacs and um all sorts of people 50 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: just running around. We need some sort of traffic signal 51 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: for roads now too. Let's adapt that railroad thing into 52 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: a traffic light. And he did. And again the first 53 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: traffic light was in London and I believe eighteen sixty eight, 54 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 1: that's right. And it was a sim of war system, 55 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: which meant it had little arms that raise up and down, 56 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: which is kind of fun. It was actually a mechanical 57 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: and use gas lamps to light up the sign at 58 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: night and there would be a cop there or whatever 59 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: you bobby UM station next to it to operate the signal. 60 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: And this was in December of eighteen sixty eight and 61 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: it was actually working well, and they thought this is 62 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: gonna be a huge success. And then about a month later, 63 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: the one of those gas lights exploded in one of 64 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,239 Speaker 1: those bobby's faces and they said, we're not going to 65 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: do this. And it was about forty years until things 66 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: started happening again as far as traffic lights go. That 67 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: must have been a really bad explosion on that poor 68 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: bobby because for for for forty years, like the English 69 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: were like, no, you don't want to get near a 70 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: traffic thing. Don't forget. That was a terrible idea. Now 71 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: I can't tell you how many people were run down 72 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: or how many um buggies got hit by cars in 73 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: the introim, but that's how bad that explosion was that 74 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: they abandoned it entirely. And it wasn't even the Brits 75 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: that picked it up again. It was the Americans who said, 76 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: we need something here, let's try let's pick up where 77 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: the Brits left off. And it's here that most people 78 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: say that the first traffic signal was invented, even though 79 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: again it was first invented in London, but the Americans 80 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: tend to get the credit for it. But even among Americans, 81 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 1: it's it's spread out over a ton of different inventors. Yeah. 82 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: And you know the thing about that British one, it 83 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,799 Speaker 1: wasn't even a traffic light problem. It was a gas 84 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: lamp problem exactly. They blamed the messenger brother. Um. All right, 85 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: well we'll do a little bit more before we go 86 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 1: into a break. Yes, in America, there were a lot 87 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: of people filing patents, like tons of patents being flung 88 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: around in the early nineteen hundreds about this, you know, 89 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: sort of very simple idea of a traffic light, uh 90 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: one of them, And this I think doesn't qualify because 91 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: technically it's not a light, it is just a sign. 92 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: In nineteen ten, Earnest Serene or Serene UH introduced the 93 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: automatic traffic signal in Chicago and it had again no lights, 94 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: which is why I don't call it a traffic light. 95 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: But it had the arms arranging across, rotating on an 96 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: axis like a weather van. Yeah. I would say stop 97 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: and proceed and it would just kind of turn on 98 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 1: its axis and face the right way, ideally to get 99 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: people where they needed to go. Yeah. I think there 100 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: was probably a cop, not a bobby, a cop below 101 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: operating it. So you had basically a traffic cop who 102 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: had to be stationed there working it. But it was 103 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: like kind of like the groundwork for the whole thing. Right, 104 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: The idea that you were telling one intersection or one 105 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: um direction to not move while you're telling another opposite 106 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: direction to move. That's the basis of a traffic signal. 107 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 1: I agree, And maybe we should take a break, okay, 108 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: and maybe talk about another other couple of people who 109 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: didn't get their due credit fair enough. So, Chuck, there's 110 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: a guy named Lester Wire who, like you were saying, 111 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: doesn't really give his due credit outside of um, the 112 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: Mormon held areas of Utah. Yeah, I guess you could 113 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: say that. This is a nineteen twelve in Salt Lake 114 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: City and he made something that kind of look like 115 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: a birdhouse. It was a wooden box had this actually 116 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: had red and green lights on a pole and it 117 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: was attached to the trolley wires overhead to give it power. 118 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: Very smart. I don't know why Lester Wire doesn't get 119 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: the credit. Then that was full two years before Cleveland. Yeah, 120 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: he um and it it. It's basically a birdhouse. It 121 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 1: didn't even look a bit like it. It's a bird house. 122 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: But um, I don't know why he doesn't get credit. Either, 123 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: but he doesn't um. A couple of years after that, 124 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: that's where the Cleveland one came in. That everybody says 125 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: that's the first traffic signal. I still don't understand why 126 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: it was considered the first traffic signal if lesser Wire 127 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: already had his Insalt Lake City two years four. But 128 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: James Hogue is the one who gets the credit for that, 129 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: that one that was installed in nineteen fourteen at the 130 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: corner of Euclid and I think East A hundred and 131 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 1: fifth in Cleveland, and James Hoge went whole Hogue um 132 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: by having four traffic signals that thank you, that faced 133 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: every direction of traffic so that you could, um, you 134 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: could coordinate them, and I think it was was set 135 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: up so that it was impossible to give conflicting signals, 136 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: so that you couldn't tell two opposite directions to go 137 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: at the same time. Like it just couldn't happen. That's right. Uh, 138 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: we should shout out William Giglieri of San Francisco, But 139 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: because I think the distinction here was that his light 140 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: was the first automatic light, that's a big one that 141 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: used red and green lights, and this was a nineteen seventeen, 142 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: I think, and I'm trying to go chronologically here. In 143 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty, William Pott's a cop in Detroit, not a bobby. 144 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: He developed some automatic traffic light systems, and I think 145 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: this was the first one to use the caution light 146 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: use all three colors. That was a huge innovation because 147 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: up to that point it was as red or green. 148 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: So you had people going, going, going, going, and then 149 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: other people stopping and then it still maybe going and 150 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: you could have an accident. Adding like that little caution light, 151 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: that's a that was a lifesaver, literally a big deal. 152 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: And we have to shout out in Garrett Morrigan, quite 153 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,839 Speaker 1: the inventor. Garrett was the actual first African American to 154 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: own a car at all in Cleveland. Like I said, 155 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: quite the inventor. Quite the inventor invented the gas mask 156 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,599 Speaker 1: as well. Incidentally, and Arett invented it was a T 157 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: shaped pole with it did have three positions on it 158 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,559 Speaker 1: had stop and go, but this one was the first one, 159 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: I believe, to have everyone stop for a moment of 160 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: time at least so it would give other people a 161 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: chance to get out of the intersection, which was a 162 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: really big safety feature. Yeah, and UM Garrett Morgan is 163 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: is very often credited as the father of the traffic 164 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: signal because he sold his patent to GE for forty grand, 165 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: which is about six dred and something thousand today. UM 166 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: and GE mass produced these things. It was like really 167 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: cheap and easy to produce, and so they started popping 168 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,839 Speaker 1: up everywhere, which is I think why he he often 169 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: gets the credit, even though his came almost ten years 170 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: after that Cleveland one. UM. But it's tough if you 171 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: look at the patent designs, it's tough to understand. You 172 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: really have to like sit and think about it. But 173 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: there were it was like a cross UM and it 174 00:09:57,720 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: said stop on one side and go on the other, 175 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: but it would fold up so that it said stop 176 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: everywhere no matter what direction you were in like you 177 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: were saying, so there was a moment in between each 178 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: change where all all four directions were stopping. Yeah, and 179 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: we still have that overlap today on I feel like 180 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: I sometimes see lights in rural areas where they don't 181 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 1: have that overlap, or maybe they've all been changed over. 182 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 1: But I do remember a time that where they where 183 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: they didn't have that overlap. Yeah, I remember that too. 184 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: It wasn't even that long ago, no, huh. It was 185 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: kind of like just a free for all basically just 186 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: go as fast, like as soon as the other one 187 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: turned round. The other one was green. So it's funny 188 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: that Garrett Morgan thought of this in the nineteen twenties 189 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: and it went away for a while. I guess we 190 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 1: also have to shout out John Allen, who I was 191 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,960 Speaker 1: not only an inventor, but a bit of an entrepreneur 192 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,559 Speaker 1: if you ask me. Yes. So, this was the first 193 00:10:54,920 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: street level pedestrian traffic signal, right right, And I think 194 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: they had them before that in the nineteen thirties, but 195 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: they were integrated into the traffic light themselves, right yeah, 196 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: And um, they right off the bat basically came up 197 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: with the walker don't walk signal as we understand it today, 198 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: like that that up right palm that you're saying stop 199 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: with that was like the first one and it's still 200 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:25,319 Speaker 1: in use. So that's a rare example of somebody figuring 201 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,559 Speaker 1: out the best design initially, you know. Yeah, that's right. 202 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: But John Allen his is kind of funny. He had 203 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: the words stop and go, but he pretty smart. I mean, 204 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: it didn't catch on, thankfully, but he got on this 205 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 1: advertising thing really early and thought, hey, why don't we 206 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 1: do this, Why don't we have signals that are sponsored 207 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: and it could say like go to you know, quickie marked, 208 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 1: basically if they want to pay the money for that 209 00:11:55,440 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: Quickie mark I do. Could you imagine if that's what 210 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: it had turned into. I can, and I'm actually surprised 211 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: that it's not that way now. But yeah, it would 212 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: have been cute to look at now in retrospect. But 213 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 1: I'm I'm with you. I'm glad it didn't catch on. 214 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: Oh boy, that reminds me of one of my most 215 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: hated things is the advent of the gas pump advertisements. 216 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,679 Speaker 1: Oh and they're so loud too. I can't turn those 217 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: off quick enough. No, I'm with you, they're pretty bad. 218 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: Chuck agreed to the worst. Well, since we both think 219 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: that gas pump advertisements are as bad as it gets, 220 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: that means, of course that short stuff is apt. Stuff 221 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: you should know is a production of iHeart Radio. For 222 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 223 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.