Today is the anniversary of the first American traffic light, in 1916, in Cleveland.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

http://www.vox.com/2015/8/5/9097713/when-was-the-first-traffic-light-installed

It's the 101st anniversary of the first electric traffic signal system. On August 5, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio, engineers installed a pair of green and red lights facing each side of a four-way intersection — a simple experiment that has since shaped roads around the world, and is honored today in a Google Doodle.

In a technical sense, Cleveland's device might not seem all that impressive. It was actually preceded by similar temporary systems in London and Utah, and like the others, it was manually operated. Its chief benefit was allowing a policeman to sit in a booth next to the intersection instead of standing dangerously within it.

But this simple invention marks a key moment in the largely forgotten transformation of roads during the 20th century. For most of history, roads have been chaotic, shared public spaces, packed with horses, handcarts, merchants, pedestrians, and children. As much as any other invention, the traffic signal gave rise to the carefully controlled, highly automated thoroughfares we think of as roads today.

Why we needed traffic signals:

Horses, carriages, carts, streetcars, and pedestrians had been navigating busy intersections for years — but they moved pretty slowly, which meant turn-taking and other informal driving customs generally worked fine.

[ghostsinthemachine]

1. Slave to the traffic Light!

[bvf]

2. And it's all been downhill ever since. n/t

[jberryhill]

3. Meh