Today it’s quite easy to wander over to your favorite local eatery and grab a variety of sushi rolls, a bowl of miso soup, or some steamed dumplings while admiring the mesmerizing glow from a nearby neon sign, but do you ever stop and think about where these everyday essential lighting wonders of the world came from? Even just a century ago, only a handful of Europeans had experienced neon tube lighting in essentially its modern form, but in the span of just 100 years, neon signs quickly became the darlings of the design world. To unravel this history, here is an infographic of some of the most important neon milestones and their direct origins.

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