Traffic light's 100th anniversary: When was the first traffic light installed?

They are the bane of impatient motorists and are responsible for thousands of road rage incidents across the globe.

Now the humble traffic light has been honoured with a Google Doodle to celebrate its 100th Anniversary on Wednesday.

The first ever traffic lights were unveiled in London in the late 19th century, and placed outside the Houses of Parliament.

Non-electric and gas-operated, police officers had to work the lights by hand in a bid to control vehicles crossing on nearby Bridge Street, Great George Street and Parliament Street.

The project was short-lived after an explosion in 1869 when a leak in gas lines passing under the device exploded, and seriously injured the police officer operating the lights.

More than thirty years later an American enjoyed greater success with some eletronic lights that focused on a similar - and now internationally recognisable - system of red and green lights.

Lester Wire, a former detective in Salt Lake City, came up with the revolutionary idea in 1912, and traffic lights began springing up across the United States shortly after.

In 1920 bells were added to Mr Wire's traffic light system to alert motorists when the lights were about to change - they were later placed with the amber light now seen on all tragic light systems today.

It wasn't until 1990 that countdown timers were introduced, allowing pedestrians to judge whether there is enough time for them to cross the road before the lights turn red.

Perhaps the most impressive traffic light specimen ever to be unleashed on the world's streets was the Traffic Light Tree, created by French sculptor Pierre Vivant in 1998.

The imposing eight-metre tall tree consists of 75 sets of lights and has become a favourite spot for tourists in London.

These days, traffic lights are highly sophisticated, incorporating special light symbols for bikes, trams and buses. Some also feature signals that are interruptible, giving priority to emergency vehicles via transmitters that send radio waves, infrared signals, or strobe light signals that are received by a sensor on or near the traffic lights.