Invented by British Railway Engineer J.P Knight in 1868
The world's first traffic signal was installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. It was a manually operated gas-lit signal with two semaphore arms for daytime use and red and green gas lights for night.
It was designed to control the flow of horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians, the signal functioned similarly to railway signals. It used red for "stop" and green for "go."
Unfortunately the experiment was short-lived as the gas light exploded after only a few weeks, injuring the operator. This led to a hiatus in traffic signal development for several decades.
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