Streetlights

 

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„One of the most important inventions of the late 18th century was gas lighting“.

 

William Murdock was born in 1754 in Scotland. At the age of 23 he went to Birmingham in hope of finding employment at the works of Boulton and Watt.

He lived in Birmingham for 19 years and married a local girl.

During this time he invented a steam powered car. He was seen by the inventor of the steam train, while he was trying out his invention. It’s possible that he got the idea from Murdock’s model.

Boulton and Watt told Murdock to forget about the car and concentrate on something else.

His best-known invention was the use of coal gas for lighting. In 1792 he heated coal gas in a closed iron vessel in his garden and piped the resulting gas into the house where he lit some burners attached to the other end of the pipe. This was the first practical system of gas lighting to be used anywhere in the world. He opened up a whole new industry and changed the living habits of the civilised world. In 1802 Boulton and Watt finally agreed to the installation of two gas lamps outside their factory.

In the early 19th century Parliament decided to make towns safer and healthier to live. One of these decisions was to supply all the towns with streetlights.

 

 

What changed?

 

Towns became safer:   The streets were lighted and people weren’t afraid to go out at night anymore. They felt safer, because they could see what was going on even if it was dark.

 

People could now go out every night not only when there was a full moon. Except for these 8 days when there was full or nearly full moon the streetlights were on from sunset till 4 o’clock in the morning. These lighting times remained in use until 1844, after which the lamps where left on during the winter months until 7 a.m. By 1849 most of the streets in the town centre were lit by gas using a total of 411 lamps.

 

The people’s habits changed:  They started to go out at night. There was more night-life. After gas lights were introduced in the streets more and more people started getting them in their homes as well. This also changed their life-style because they no longer had to go to bed as soon as it got dark

 

Europe and the World

 

From 1810 on streetlights spread throughout all the world. In 1816 the first gas lights were introduced in America. By 1820 they were in Paris and from there spread through all Europe. In the 1881’s streetlights were all over America and Europe.

One year later the first streetlight powered by electricity was put up in London.

 

Today electric Streetlights are all over the world!!!

 

Christine and Nayra

 

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