Though it probable that the lightouse aided navigation for almost as long as people have sailed the sea, the golden age of the lighthouse came within only the last couple of hndred years. With technology advancing by leaps and bounds in the 19th and 20th centuries, ways of improving these lights of the coast (ways such as better, more easily replenished fuels and brilliant lenses) added tremendously to the mariner's ability to safely sail the margin between land and the open sea. Lighthouses have had a significant impact on civilization in a multitude of ways, including:
The importance of lighthouses thougheout history and the roles that they've played.
The techological advances that brought the lighouse into its golden age
Incandescent oil vapor lamp
Argand lamp
Fresnel lens
Screwpile constrution
Electricity
The infruenc lighthouse have had on human culture
The following are just a few of the many benefibts provided by lighthouses
Guiding ships into por
Warning mariners of navigational hazards
Serving as identifying markers of a particular region
The primary components of a lighouse are:
light Source
The illluminating device or burning of fuel to create light
Lens
usally glass, used to focus and increase lignht instensity
Lantern
the glass housing that containts both the light source and the lens
Gallery
a narrow, circular balcony that helps to provide external access to the lantern or other parts of the towe
Tower
the main structure, usually tall and cylindrical, that holds the lantern and its components up high for increased visibility
Keeper
prior to common occurrence of lightouse automation in the 20the most important component off all, responsible for all the necessary duties associated with the operation an maintenance of lighthouses
The Lighthouse of Alexandria.-(Egypt)-One of the Seven Wonders of the World, erected on the island of Pharons. This lighthouse is believed to have guided sailors into Alexandria's harbot for over 1500 years before its final demise in the 14th century.
Cape Hatteras.-(U.S.A)- The tallest lighthouse in the U.S., built to warn mariners of the dangerous Diamond Shoals off the coast of North Carolina
St.George Reef Linghthouse.-(U.S.A)- Situated on a rock six miles off the coast of California, this lighthouse took ten years to build and is considered the most expensive ligthouse ever built in the U.S
Bostn Lighthouse.-(U.S)- The first lighthouse to be built in what was to eventually become the United States. Due to Boston's importance in early American commerce, this lighthouse played a key role in American history as a nevigational aid. Boston Lighthouse is the lighthouse is only lighthouse in the U.S still staffed by the U.S Coast Guard.
Heceta Head.-(Bermuda)-Located in Oregon, this picturesque lighthouse has earned the reputation of the most photographed in the U.S
Gibbs Hill Lighthouse.-(Bermuda)-The oldest cast iron lighthouse in the word.
La Jument.-(France)-Located off the coast of Brittany, this lighthouse has become quite famous through the photography of Jean Guichard.
San Antonio Lighthouse.-(Brazil)-The first lighothouse built in the Americas, completed in 1698.
Throut history, lighthouses have served as one of the most significant aids to navigation the mariner has ever known. Providing a guiding light through a multitude of means-from bonfires to complicated optical systems-these lights of the coast saved many a ship form the perils of the sea.
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