What was the golden spike ceremony?

The completion of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, on 10 May 1869, marked by a ceremonial spike wired to the telegraph network.

Why is it called a live broadcast?

The hammer blow was transmitted by telegraph so cities across the United States registered the completion in the same minute.

Who built the railroad?

Largely Chinese labourers on the western section and Irish and Civil War veterans on the eastern, under dangerous conditions rarely shown in the ceremony photographs.

May 10, 1869

1869-05-10 19:47 UTC

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The golden spike

A telegraph key wired to a ceremonial spike at Promontory Summit transmits one word, "done", and joins a continent by rail.

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What happened in this minute

When the last spike was driven in Utah, the blow was wired to telegraph lines so that the whole country would hear it at once. Bells rang in San Francisco and New York within the same minute.

Travel from coast to coast fell from months to about a week. The railway was built largely by Chinese and Irish labour under conditions that the ceremony photographs carefully omit.

It is also one of the first events broadcast live, which makes it a reasonable candidate for the moment national time itself became a shared instant.

Questions and answers

What was the golden spike ceremony?: The completion of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, on 10 May 1869, marked by a ceremonial spike wired to the telegraph network.
Why is it called a live broadcast?: The hammer blow was transmitted by telegraph so cities across the United States registered the completion in the same minute.
Who built the railroad?: Largely Chinese labourers on the western section and Irish and Civil War veterans on the eastern, under dangerous conditions rarely shown in the ceremony photographs.