Headlights, as we commonly know them, were first introduced for horse-drawn carriages in the 1880s. Before this time, driving carriages at night was quite rare and considered rather dangerous. Horses need to be able to see clearly to avoid hurting themselves. Carriage wheels were usually made of wood, which is brittle enough to break in a collision with a road obstruction. Carriage axles and undercarriages were vulnerable, too. Moreover, in the days before electric lights were widespread, streetlights were relatively rare. Since lighting anything larger than a room was difficult to do with fire, society was structured around an assumption that significant business needed to be conducted during the hours between dawn and dusk. The birth of the 24 hour culture occurred much later, and so there was little need to drive around during the night, except for emergencies.
These early headlights were based on lanterns that were previously designed to be carried by a person. The modern Acura head light no longer has any of the design throwbacks of the handheld lantern, but early headlights did. In fact, many early headlights were designed to be removable, so the driver could carry it with her after parking. Naturally, some adaptations were necessary to make them feasible for use on carriages. These early “headlamps,” as they were commonly called, were subjected to much greater speeds than their handheld forerunners. The airflow whipping by these lanterns posed a greater difficulty than people originally supposed. The trouble is keeping the wind from extinguishing the flame, while still allowing the flame to have access to the oxygen necessary for burning. The Acura head light has no need for oxygen, being electric. Acetylene became a popular fuel because of its wind-resistant flame. Parabolic reflectors were a fairly early innovation in headlights. A parabolic reflector is a mirror, curved to the shape of a parabola that is designed to reflect light to gather at a certain point. Basically, light is emitted from the source in all directions, and the parabolic reflector is shaped to reflect each ray at the proper angle to focus it where it’s needed—in front of the vehicle.
The next important innovation in headlights, quite obvious when looking at an Acura head light, is electrification. Electric headlights were conveniently added when cars began replacing horse-drawn carriages. The internal combustion engine provided a convenient source for electricity. Electric lights are easier to activate, conveniently dimmable, don’t require oxygen, and don’t require fuel replacement. The modern Acura headlight is also far brighter than its flaming predecessors. In 1962, the first halogen headlights appeared. Halogens form a group of highly reactive elements (a column in the periodic table). They can be used to enhance the efficacy of incandescent electric lights. Incandescent lights produce light by heating up small pieces of metal wire, called filaments. Just like your stove, it glows when heated. In the fairly near future, these incandescent lights may be replaced with fluorescent or LED lights. These are many times more efficient. Fluorescent lights produce light by sending an electrical current through a fluorescent gas.
