John Peake Knight - 1868

The first pedestrian crossing was erected in Bridge Street, Westminster, London, in December 1868. Knight, a railway engineer, wanted a safe way to allow pedestrians to cross this busy thoroughfare.

The traffic signal constructed by the railway signal engineers Saxby & Farmer. It used gas lamps, and was manually operated. A police constable used a lever at the base of the light pole to switch between the red and green lamps.

Zebra Crossing 1951

The zebra crossing was first installed in Slough, Berkshire England on the 31st October 1951. Authorities were looking for a way to make pedestrian crossings more visible to road users and the public.

The idea of painting broad white stripes was put forward by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory and eventually approved. MP James Callaghan commented that the design resembled zebra markings and the terminology stuck.

George Charlesworth 1951

Traffic engineer George Charlesworth had worked on the Barnes Wallis-designed Bouncing_bomb was dubbed ‘Dr Zebra’. Charlesworth headed the team who pioneered the black-and-white markings pilot schemes that led to the markings being adopted universally throughout the world.

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