The world’s first electric traffic signal is put into place on the
corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland,
Ohio, on August 5, 1914.
   
    
    
   

The inventor Garrett Morgan has been given credit for having
invented the traffic signal based on his T-shaped design,
patented in 1923 and later reportedly sold to General
Electric.

The world’s first electric traffic signal (above) was put into place
on the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland,
Ohio, on August 5, 1914.

In the earliest days of the automobile, navigating America’s roads
was a chaotic experience, with pedestrians, bicycles, horses and streetcars all competing with motor vehicles for right of way. The problem was alleviated somewhat with the gradual disappearance
of horse-drawn carriages, but even before World War I it had
become clear that a system of regulations was necessary to keep
traffic moving and reduce the number of accidents on the roads.