world's first traffic light

The world’s first traffic light went up in London in 1868 outside the Houses of Parliament—a gas-lit, hand-operated affair that eventually did what gas things do: it exploded.

The first electric traffic signal followed in 1914 in Cleveland, USA, kicking off the modern stop–go pantomime we all adore at rush hour.

By the 1920s the three-colour system took hold, turning horse-and-cart chaos into something vaguely civilised.

So every red light you curse has very Victorian origins—stiff upper lip included.