On this day

22 July 1862

JOHN MCDOUALL STUART became the first European to complete a south–north crossing of Australia and return alive. He reached the north coast on 24 July 1862, nine months after departing Adelaide.The Scottish-born explorer with a lifelong goal to conquer the continent’s centre began his own expeditions in 1858 and set out twice to investigate Australia’s vast and unknown harsh inland. After three more failed expeditions, including one during which he lost the sight in an eye, Stuart set out from Adelaide in October 1861 on his sixth attempt. When his team reached the Indian Ocean on the country’s west side, all had scurvy and Stuart could barely walk. Today the Stuart Highway, which runs between Darwin, in the north, and Port Augusta, in

South Australia, bears his name.