Calendar Order
Chronological Order
Timelines
Below are two lists of 150+ significant dates in the Overland Telegraph story in both calendar and chronological order. Most of the dates are in the period from 1870, when the British Australian Telegraph Company was formed in London and when the South Australian Government made a commitment to build the Overland Telegraph Line. The list ends in 1872, when the Line was finally completed. NOTE: These lists are subject to update. Click an image to download a copy (MS Word format):
Tennant Creek Telegraph Station, 1939
[SLSA B54732]
On
Thursday
night,
20
June,
the
Chief
Secretary
in
Adelaide
receives
a
telegram
from
Charles
Todd
in
Port
Darwin
–
the
first
message
to
be
sent
directly
from
north
to
south.
But
it
has
taken
29
days
to
arrive.
First,
it
is
telegraphed
about
300
miles
to
the
end
of
the
Northern
Sectionn
of
the
OTL
where
it
is
written
out
and
handed
to
Dick
Knuckey.
Knuckey
then
has
to
find
his
own
way,
on
horseback,
through
rough
country
to
Tennant
Creek,
the
northern-most
point
of
the
Southern
Section.
Now
the
message
can
again
be
telegraphed down the Line.
Calendar Order
Chronological Order
NEWS
Key Dates
Tennant Creek Telegraph Station, 1939
[SLSA B54732]
On
Thursday
night,
20
June,
the
Chief
Secretary
in
Adelaide
receives
a
telegram
from
Charles
Todd
in
Port
Darwin
–
the
first
message
to
be
sent
directly
from
north
to
south.
But
it
has
taken
29
days
to
arrive.
First,
it
is
telegraphed
about
300
miles
to
the
end
of
the
Northern
Sectionn
of
the
OTL
where
it
is
written
out
and
handed
to
Dick
Knuckey.
Knuckey
then
has
to
find
his
own
way,
on
horseback,
through
rough
country
to
Tennant
Creek,
the
northern-most
point
of
the
Southern
Section.
Now
the
message
can
again
be
telegraphed down the Line.
