A headlamp is a lamp attached to the entrance of a automobile to illuminate the street forward. Headlamps are also usually known as headlights, however in essentially the most precise usage, headlamp is the time period for the device itself and headlight is the term for the beam of light produced and distributed by the system. Headlamp performance has steadily improved throughout the automobile age, EcoLight smart bulbs spurred by the nice disparity between daytime and nighttime visitors fatalities: the US Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Safety Administration states that just about half of all traffic-related fatalities happen at nighttime, regardless of only 25% of traffic travelling throughout darkness. Other automobiles, EcoLight products reminiscent of trains and aircraft, are required to have headlamps. Bicycle headlamps are sometimes used on bicycles, and are required in some jurisdictions. They are often powered by a battery or a small generator like a bottle or hub dynamo. The first horseless carriages used carriage lamps, which proved unsuitable for travel at speed.

The earliest lights used candles as the most common sort of fuel. The earliest headlamps, fuelled by combustible gas reminiscent of acetylene gasoline or oil, operated from the late 1880s. Acetylene fuel lamps had been fashionable in 1900s as a result of the flame is resistant to wind and rain. Thick concave mirrors combined with magnifying lenses projected the acetylene flame mild. A number of automobile manufacturers offered Prest-O-Lite calcium carbide acetylene gas generator cylinder with gasoline feed pipes for lights as commonplace equipment for 1904 cars. The primary electric headlamps had been introduced in 1898 on the Columbia Electric Automobile from the Electric Car Company of Hartford, EcoLight smart bulbs Connecticut, EcoLight and had been optional. Two elements restricted the widespread use of electric headlamps: the short life of filaments in the cruel automotive setting, and EcoLight smart bulbs the issue of producing dynamos small sufficient, but highly effective enough to produce ample current. Peerless made electric headlamps standard in 1908. A Birmingham, England EcoLight smart bulbs firm referred to as Pockley Vehicle Electric Lighting Syndicate marketed the world's first electric automobile-lights as an entire set in 1908, EcoLight products which consisted of headlamps, sidelamps, and tail lights that had been powered by an eight-volt battery.

In 1912 Cadillac integrated their vehicle's Delco electrical ignition and EcoLight dimmable lighting system, forming the trendy vehicle electrical system. The Guide Lamp Firm introduced "dipping" (low-beam) headlamps in 1915, but the 1917 Cadillac system allowed the sunshine to be dipped using a lever contained in the automobile relatively than requiring the driver to cease and get out. The 1924 Bilux bulb was the first modern unit, having the sunshine for both low (dipped) and excessive (major) beams of a headlamp emitting from a single bulb. A similar design was introduced in 1925 by Guide Lamp known as the "Duplo". In 1927 the foot-operated dimmer swap or dip change was launched and grew to become commonplace for EcoLight smart bulbs a lot of the century. 1933-1934 Packards featured tri-beam headlamps, the EcoLight smart bulbs having three filaments. From highest to lowest, the beams have been known as "nation passing", "nation driving" and "city driving". The 1934 Nash additionally used a 3-beam system, although on this case with bulbs of the standard two-filament type, and the intermediate beam combined low beam on the driver's facet with high beam on the passenger's aspect, so as to maximise the view of the roadside while minimizing glare toward oncoming traffic.

1952 "Autronic Eye" system automated the selection of high and low beams. Directional lighting, energy-saving LED bulbs utilizing a swap and electromagnetically shifted reflector to illuminate the curbside only, was launched within the rare, one-yr-solely 1935 Tatra. Steering-linked lighting was featured on the 1947 Tucker Torpedo's center-mounted headlight and was later popularized by the Citroën DS. This made it doable to turn the sunshine within the route of journey when the steering wheel turned. The standardized 7-inch (178 mm) round sealed-beam headlamp, one per facet, was required for all vehicles bought within the United States from 1940, just about freezing usable lighting technology in place until the 1970s for Individuals. In 1957 the regulation modified to allow smaller 5.75-inch (146 mm) spherical sealed beams, two per side of the car, and in 1974 rectangular sealed beams have been permitted as well. Britain, Australia, and another Commonwealth international locations, as well as Japan and Sweden, additionally made intensive use of 7-inch sealed beams, though they were not mandated as they were in the United States.