Stop and Stare

Traffic lights have always taken credit for making commuters stop and wait but most of us probably haven’t seen one up close. Aside from radiating red, green, and orange lights, a notable thing about this machine is its size! Big ones are as big as a grown child.

The first-ever traffic light in the world was a manually operated gas-lit signal that was installed in London sometime back in December 1868. It exploded a month after its installation, leaving the policeman operator injured. Since then, traffic lights have continued to evolve. To date, traffic lights exist in two sizes: eight-inch pattern and 12-inch pattern. Though it looks like tiny devices, they were usually hung 18 feet above the ground, so when you see them up close, they are really quite huge.