1965 Blackout Anniversary

Forty-four years ago, this evening, panic swept through the Northeast, beginning around 5:30PM, as what became known as the Great Blackout, began



Power Failure Snarls Northeast; 800,000 Are Caught in Subways Here; Autos Tied Up; City Gropes In Dark

The largest power failure in history blacked out nearly all of New York City, parts of nine Northeastern states and two provinces of southeastern Canada last night. Some 80,000 square miles, in which perhaps 25 million people live and work, were affected.

Imagine something of this scale happening today.

No Twitter ... No Facebook ...

And the Right Wing Freak Show conspiracy theories ...

Asked whether there was any belief that sabotage might have been involved, Bill D. Moyers, the President's Press Secretary, would say only that "all of the resources of the Government" were being invoked in the investigation.

Later Mr. Johnson was advised that utility officials were "pretty well agreed upon the belief that there is substantially no chance of sabotage." Mr. Moyers said one theory was that the failure had been in automatic frequency control equipment.

If it occurred today, obviously, it would be some grand plot of the Obama Administration, to take over the electric grids, and dictate what people can do in their own homes.

Back then, we only got some innocuous UFO reports.

And, no doubt, some Ignorant Dolt of a PartyofNoican would probably use it to seek dissing woman, and ban abortion in this country.

More on Wikipedia - Northeast Blackout of 1965

Or, The Blackout History Project