Do you know when street lighting was first introduced in France?
There is some written evidence of oil lamp lighting in the 13th century.
Street lighting as we know it today first appeared in France in 1667 under Louis XIV. When Nicolas de la Reynie was appointed lieutenant general of police, he decided to step up security measures and police surveillance, to deter crime and give residents a sense of security.
Although European expansion was based on the Parisian model, which was a symbol of luxury and modernity, not everyone was happy with it, even in the 18th century.
On March 23, 1766, during the revolt against Esquilache in Madrid, some 15,000 inhabitants of the suburbs converging on the Plaza Anton Martín in the city center destroyed the recently installed public lanterns, against a backdrop of rising food prices. In French cities, lighters are often the target of verbal or physical aggression from local residents, who regard their activity as a sub-trade.
oInvented 150 years ago, the electric light bulb was a huge step forward... and then became a huge problem.
