A headlamp is a lamp hooked up to the entrance of a automobile to illuminate the street forward. Headlamps are also often referred to as headlights, however in the most exact utilization, headlamp is the time period for EcoLight the device itself and headlight is the time period for the beam of light produced and distributed by the machine. Headlamp efficiency has steadily improved all through the car age, spurred by the nice disparity between daytime and nighttime traffic fatalities: the US National Highway Traffic Security Administration states that nearly half of all site visitors-related fatalities occur at nighttime, despite only 25% of traffic travelling during darkness. Different autos, akin to trains and aircraft, EcoLight are required to have headlamps. Bicycle headlamps are sometimes used on bicycles, and are required in some jurisdictions. They can be powered by a battery or a small generator like a bottle or hub dynamo. The primary horseless carriages used carriage lamps, which proved unsuitable for travel at pace.

The earliest lights used candles as the most common type of fuel. The earliest headlamps, fuelled by combustible gasoline corresponding to acetylene gas or oil, operated from the late 1880s. Acetylene gas lamps have been well-liked 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 light. A lot of automobile manufacturers supplied Prest-O-Lite calcium carbide acetylene gasoline generator EcoLight cylinder with gasoline feed pipes for lights as commonplace equipment for 1904 automobiles. The primary electric headlamps had been launched in 1898 on the Columbia Electric Automobile from the Electric Vehicle Firm of Hartford, Connecticut, and have been non-obligatory. Two elements limited the widespread use of electric headlamps: the short life of filaments in the cruel automotive environment, and the difficulty of producing dynamos small sufficient, yet highly effective enough to supply adequate current. Peerless made electric headlamps standard in 1908. A Birmingham, England firm called Pockley Vehicle Electric Lighting Syndicate marketed the world's first electric car-lights as an entire set in 1908, which consisted of headlamps, sidelamps, and tail lights that were powered by an eight-volt battery.

In 1912 Cadillac built-in their car's Delco electrical ignition and lighting system, forming the modern automobile electrical system. The Information Lamp Firm launched "dipping" (low-beam) headlamps in 1915, however the 1917 Cadillac system allowed the light to be dipped utilizing a lever inside the automotive reasonably than requiring the driver to cease and get out. The 1924 Bilux bulb was the first trendy unit, having the sunshine for each low (dipped) and high (main) beams of a headlamp emitting from a single bulb. The same design was introduced in 1925 by Guide Lamp known as the "Duplo". In 1927 the foot-operated dimmer switch or dip switch was introduced and grew to become standard for a lot of the century. 1933-1934 Packards featured tri-beam headlamps, the bulbs having three filaments. From highest to lowest, the beams have been called "nation passing", "nation driving" and "city driving". The 1934 Nash also used a three-beam system, EcoLight though in this case with bulbs of the standard two-filament type, and the intermediate beam combined low beam on the driver's aspect with high beam on the passenger's side, so as to maximise the view of the roadside whereas minimizing glare towards oncoming traffic.

1952 "Autronic Eye" system automated the number of excessive and low beams. Directional lighting, utilizing a swap and EcoLight home lighting electromagnetically shifted reflector to illuminate the curbside solely, was introduced in the uncommon, one-yr-solely 1935 Tatra. Steering-linked lighting was featured on the 1947 Tucker Torpedo's heart-mounted headlight and was later popularized by the Citroën DS. This made it attainable to turn the light in the course of journey when the steering wheel turned. The standardized 7-inch (178 mm) round sealed-beam headlamp, EcoLight one per facet, was required for all automobiles bought in the United States from 1940, nearly freezing usable lighting technology in place until the 1970s for People. In 1957 the law modified to allow smaller 5.75-inch (146 mm) spherical sealed beams, two per aspect of the car, and in 1974 rectangular sealed beams have been permitted as properly. Britain, Australia, and another Commonwealth nations, in addition to Japan and Sweden, additionally made in depth use of 7-inch sealed beams, though they were not mandated as they had been in the United States.