The identity of the inventor of the stoplight is disputed. Both Cleveland and Salt Lake City claim to have installed the very first. Historians, though, credit African-American inventor Garrett Morgan as the inventor of the traffic light that is still used today.
The first traffic lights displayed red and green lights only. In 1912, Lester Wire installed a traffic light in Salt Lake City whose operation necessitated the presence of a police officer. It never received a patent. On August 5, 1914, a streetlight was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue. The design, by Clevelander James Hoge, included four pairs of red and green lights and is recognized by many as the actual first stoplight.
Garrett Morgan, also a Clevelander, observed that two lights were not enough to prevent collisions. His traffic light design, created in 1923, included the yellow caution light. Morgan sold his patent to General Electric, which quickly mass-produced it. Morgan also invented an improved sewing machine, a breathing device and a hair-straightening cream.
