October 31, 1951: the Zebra Crossing first comes to the aid of pedestrians. As mandated by British law, a new kind of road marking appears in Slough, Berks., white stripes painted on black tarmac from curb to curb perpendicular to the flow of traffic. Labor Party MP (later Prime Minister) James Callaghan commented on the resemblance to the striped African equine, and the name stuck. Someone else named the Panda Car.
Today the Zebra Crossing is found around the world, but the most famous one is only about 25 miles from the first one. It’s on Abbey Road in London.
“Sixty Years of the Zebra Crossing,” Nicola Bowerbank, Britannica Blog
Abbey Road crossing live webcam
Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-bon
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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