Light Timeline

A lighthouse is a tower or a tall building that helps in the navigation of ships at sea by emitting light through lamps and lenses to show direction. They are also used for marking the dangerous coastlines so that boats and ships can stay away from hazardous reefs and shoals. Although this system was very popular in older times, it is now almost obsolete due to the expense of operating and maintaining a lighthouse. Modern electronic navigational aids have replaced almost all lighthouses, which have remained merely for their architecture and not their function.

The first lighthouses were built circa 280 BC. These were not built only because of functional purposes; their aesthetics played a major role in the design too. These were generally a part of a larger architecture, such as a castle, and not as functional because they weren’t tall enough. Much later on, during the early seventeenth century, the classic lighthouses were introduced. These were probably the most functional lighthouses with just the right height and light. They were built strictly to navigate ships, and not for their physical appearance. Lastly came the modern lighthouses in the twentieth century, and to present they are the most popular way to navigate ships. These are usually located in inaccessible locations, and they use solar-charged batteries to operate a single stationary flashing light sitting on a steel skeleton tower. These too were developed solely for their function, and they are even less picturesque than the classic lighthouses.