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Brief History of Outdoor Lighting: 20th Century to Today

Outdoor lighting continued to evolve as mankind entered the 20th century. Here it was spurred on by further advancements in science and in some cases by military necessity. Outdoor lighting also became more accessible to the general public thanks to advancements in technology.as the 21st century dawned.

To explore a brief history of outdoor lighting through the 18th Century click here and for the 19th Century click here.

A better, longer lasting bulb

While Thomas Edison lost the War of the Currents his light bulb was still the go to resource for artificial light. Others strove to improve on his design. While 1,300 hundred hours may have sounded good in the 1880s by the turn of the 20th century that was not enough. That is of course not to knock the quality of some of these bulbs as there are a handful of these that are still in use to this day including one in Livermore, California that has been operational since 1901. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s longest lasting light bulb.

Spurred on because of automobiles?

Americans saw the benefits of outdoor lighting as the streets of the country were lit up at night. This was spurred on not just because of the beauty but the safety it offered for not only pedestrians but for a new innovation that was coming into vogue, the automobile. Automobiles of the time did not have lighting, using most commonly oil lanterns which provided little to no illumination and were merely a warning to other drivers and pedestrians.

The first electric headlamps appeared in France in 1901 but as they were the only component of the car that required electricity the installation of the generator cost as much as the car did. By 1908 though what could be recognized as modern headlamps were appearing on cars in the US and it was the invention of the tungsten filament by Irving Langmuir that revolutionized not only the headlamp but also the light bulb. He discovered that a tungsten filament, when combined with argon gas, could dramatically increase the life of a light bulb. He also discovered that twisting the coil improved efficiency. Outdoor lighting had reached the modern age.

When the sun set the lights came on as the cities lit up. Between the street lights and the cars on the road it almost appeared to be daytime in some places. Increased mobility meant more socialization and gatherings and parties became common. They also began to move from indoors to the outdoors as incandescent light bulbs brought light to where it had not been before.

Incandescent bulbs

Improvements on the incandescent bulbs were quick. German engineers Friedrich Meyer, Hans-Joachim Spanner and Edmund Germer created the first fluorescent light in 1927 taking previously invisible UV light and making it visible building on Heinrich Geissler’s work. These new lights lasted longer than incandescent lights and were three times more efficient but while they were patented they were never sold commercially. That honor belonged to George Inman and General Electric who developed their own fluorescent light but when it came time to patent the light they were not able to due to the Germans. GE eventually purchased the Germans patent and the lights were made available to the public. The world got its first look at fluorescent lighting at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City and their popularity took off. They were perfect for outdoor lighting, particularly street lighting and for parking lots.

Early LEDs

At the same time another common light source of today was being developed: the LED. Russian scientist Oleg Losev is credited with developing the first LED in 1927. Many others were working on electroluminescence, most famously Marie Curie. Unfortunately for LED lighting World War 2 (and Curie’s demise due to radium poisoning) put an end to any work and further developments would have to wait until the war was over.

The necessity of outdoor lighting in wartime

The war itself proved to be a boon for outdoor lighting. While cities went dark to avoid attacks artificial outdoor lighting was key to keeping the military wheels moving. Nighttime did not bring an end to fighting as had happened in previous conflicts and 24/7 command and control was needed. That meant keeping command posts and headquarters well lit, which required lighting. Any source that provided light could be used, from candles to electric lights. Light was also key to defense as massive flood lights were used to illuminate the skies so that enemy aircraft could be identified and shot at.

Moving to the suburbs

Following the war Americans began a fundamental shift with many using the newfound freedom of cheap automobiles to move out of the cities and into the suburbs. With extra room many Americans sought to take advantage of it and began to install outdoor lighting in their yards or in the front of the house.

Color becomes important

The first major post-war innovation came from Gilbert Reiling who developed lamps using metallic salts which created a more pleasant and neutral color in 1959. Color was beginning to become important and in the 1960s the first color-corrected mercury lights were developed. Reiling’s work would be improved on to create the metal halide lamp which became the standard streetlight technology for decades. They were not the only streetlights to be seen, high pressure sodium lights were developed in the 1970s and were known for their orange glow. Some are still in use today.

Compact fluorescent

For the individual light compact fluorescent bulbs became the next big thing. Developed by Edward Hammer in 1976 by bending the tube into a spiral they proved to be a hit. Further developments made them cheaper and more efficient through the 1980s and 1990s. Eventually they made the incandescent bulb a relic of the past but their days as the most efficient option proved to be short lived.

Improvements on LEDs

LED technology was steadily improving. In 1962 General Electric scientist Nick Holonyak Jr. created the first visible spectrum LED red diode and in 1972 the first yellow LED. The first use for LEDs was in semiconductors for telecommunications and were incredibly expensive. They served as indicator lights as no other use could be determined for them as scientists just could not get past green on the color spectrum. A weak blue LED light was developed by Herbert Maruska in 1972 but it took several decades to crack the white LED, which would be able to produce light.

A Nobel Prize for LEDs?

A stronger blue LED developed by Japanese-American scientist Shuji Nakamura in the early 1990s while working for Nichia in Tokyo. This made the white LED lights possible in 1996 and earned Nakamura a Nobel Prize in 2014. LEDs were incorporated into many of the technological innovations that we take for granted today besides lighting like smartphones and television screens making our modern life more convenient.

LED lighting revolutionized the lighting industry. With advertised lifespans of up to 100,000 hours with more efficient lighting changed everything. With more efficient LED lighting the cost of outdoor lighting dropped dramatically. Power consumption dropped while the actual amount of light increased. With decreased power consumption that meant that outdoor lighting was no longer just for the rich and famous and it has led to millions of homes and businesses not only in the United States but all over the world being illuminated. Is yours one of them?

Where will outdoor lighting go from here? It is an exciting topic for us. While we may have an idea we are excited to see the technological advancements that will come, even in the next generation. If it is anything like what occurred in the 19th Century and the 20th Century it will be amazing!

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livermore,_California
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Langmuir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Germer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_New_York_World%27s_Fair
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Geißler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Losev
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_E._Hammer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Holonyak
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuji_Nakamura

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