England   1868

The first traffic light. A pair of alternating red and green gas lamps was installed outside Britain's Houses of Parliament in that year to keep the large number of horse-drawn carriages in the area from colliding. Unfortunately, it blew up, killing a passing police officer. That discouraged further experiments in traffic control for a while. The first automatic traffic light was installed in Wolverhampton, England in 1926. It remained in service until 1968. One kid wrote to us to point out that American inventor Garrett A. Morgan developed a traffic signal that raised and lowered "Stop" and "Go" signs in the early 1900s. Thanks!