Created by: Candice Solomon

 

Listening to my boss's four year old repeat a rhyme she learned in class last week inspired me to construct a timeline entry for the invention of the traffic light. Even on the road, society uses literacy and the ability to communicate effectively in order to complete simple tasks such as driving. Here's the inspiration: 

 

Twinkle, Twinkle, Traffic Light.

Standing on the corner bright.

Red means stop, Green means go

Yellow means wait, even if you're late.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Traffic Light.

Standing on the corner bright.

Before the car was even invented there was ideas revolving around how to regulate traffic. In 1868, London experimented with a revolving lantern with red and green signals that was displayed at an intersection to assist with the buggy, carriage and pedestrian traffic. Unfortunately, all the bugs had not been worked out because this early rendition of the traffic light exploded and killed the police officer that was operating it at the time.

Then in the early 1920's a police officer, William Potts, from Detroit, Michigan attempted to adapt the railroad signals for street use. Around the same time, Garrett A. Morgan invented the electric automatic traffic light and he was the first to apply for and acquire a U.S. patent for the invention on November 20, 1923. Garrett A. Morgan was also the first African American car owner in Cleveland, Ohio and his invention of the traffic light was used throughout North America. Eventually he sold his rights to his invention to General Electric Corporation for $40,000. 

 

More Informational Links

U.S. Department of Transportation - About Garrett A. Morgan

The Great Idea Finder, Traffic Light

The The Traffic Light of the Future

Page Last Updated: February 12, 2003.