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ABC News
ABC News
Environment
By Eleri Mai Harris, based on Professor Genevieve Bell's Boyer Lectures

How a country town beat the big smoke to electric street lights

The first city in Australia to use street lights powered by a municipal electricity company wasn't Sydney or Melbourne — it was Tamworth. And it all unfolded in a very Aussie kind of way.

To hear more from Professor Genevieve Bell on what it means to be human, and Australian, in a digital world, subscribe to the Boyer Lectures podcast.

You might also enjoy our comics on the origin stories of the typewriter and the robot.

Editor's note: In her Boyer Lectures, Professor Bell acknowledges that the first street in Australia to have electrical lighting was Waratah in western Tasmania in 1886. This comic focuses on Tamworth's milestone, being the first place in Australia to implement electric street lights powered by a municipal power company.

Credits

  • Words: Professor Genevieve Bell and Eleri Mai Harris
  • Illustrations: Eleri Mai Harris
  • Production: Tegan Osborne
  • Editor: Scott Spark

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