An Arizona city passed the world’s first law restricting outdoor lighting back in 1958 to protect the view from a mountaintop telescope, and the accidental result is a modern city of 75,000 where the Milky Way is still visible from downtown and the nocturnal wildlife never lost its dark

A single 1958 ordinance protecting a telescope’s view became an accidental blueprint for preserving something most cities have surrendered—a night sky dark enough to see the stars from your own backyard.

Source: An Arizona city passed the world’s first law restricting outdoor lighting back in 1958 to protect the view from a mountaintop telescope, and the accidental result is a modern city of 75,000 where the Milky Way is still visible from downtown and the nocturnal wildlife never lost its dark