Headlights

A headlight or headlamp is a lamp, usually attached to the front of a vehicle such as a car, with the purpose of illuminating the road ahead during periods of low visibility, such as night or precipitation. more...

A headlight can also be mounted on a bicycle (with a battery or small generator), and most other vehicles from airplanes to trains tend to have headlights of their own. Single small headlights may also be mounted on a helmet designed to be worn in situations where light is required but both hands are needed, for example in subterranean mines or for spelunking in caves.

History of automotive headlights

The earliest headlights were fueled by acetylene or oil and were introduced by drivers in the late 1880s. Acetylene was popular because the flame was resistant to wind and rain. The first electric headlights were introduced in 1898 on the Columbia Electric Car from the Electric Vehicle Company of Hartford, Connecticut, but they were optional. "Prest-O-Lite" acetylene lights were offered by a number of manufacturers as standard equipment for 1904, and Peerless made electrical headlights standard in 1908. In 1912, Cadillac integrated their vehicle's Delco electrical ignition and lighting system, creating the modern vehicle electronics system.

"Dipping" (low beam) headlights were introduced in 1915 by the Guide Lamp Company, but the 1917 Cadillac system was much more useful as it allowed the light to be dipped with a lever inside the car rather than requiring the driver to stop and get out. The 1924 Bilux bulb was the first modern unit, having the light for both low (dipped) and high (main) beams of a headlamp emitting from a single bulb. A similar design was introduced the next year by Guide Lamp called the "Duplo". In 1927, the foot-operated dimmer was introduced and would become standard for much of the century. The last vehicle with a foot-operated dimmer was the 1991 Ford F-Series. Fog lights were new for 1938 Cadillacs, and that company's 1954 "Autronic Eye" system automated the switch between high and low beams.

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