London's First Traffic Lights: Gas-Lit Signals Emerge
London police officers manually rotated a semaphore arm to direct horse-drawn carriages through the chaotic streets outside the Palace of Westminster. This 1868 installation forced cities to confront the need for standardized traffic control, sparking a global shift from ad-hoc policing to engineered intersection management that eventually evolved into today's automated signal systems.
December 10, 1868
158 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on December 10
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