Back on November 9, 1965, about 5:17 pm, the Great Northeast Blackout occurred here in the USA. This was just before I turned nine years old.
Most people were unaware that lights were flickering and power was failing in areas of upstate New York. A long series of power plant switches were being tripped, and by 5:27 PM, most of New York City went dark. Only Staten Island and part of Brooklyn were unaffected. The power outage spread into Massachusetts, Connecticut and the northern New England states as well as Long Island, New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania.
The blue area shows where the blackout occurred.
My mother always cooked dinner early, as my Dad worked most nights and had to be out he door by 5:30 or 6:00. So as usual, she put out the dinner on the table at 5:15 and then the lights went out.
Having grown up on Cape Cod, we had a large stash of candles. It seemed that we lost our power pretty frequently. High winds. So mom went to the cupboard and brought out the candles.
I remember thinking how fun it was to eat by candle light…again!
The power outage would last for thirteen hours. Through these thirteen hours, a night of almost complete darkness many citizens of the northeastern United States banded together. Considering that nearly a million New Yorkers and Bostonians were trapped during this time, either on subways, office buildings or in elevators, it was a remarkable triumph.
Of course, to a little girl on Cape Cod it meant candles, my sister’s Ghost stories, and probably a slightly earlier bedtime for me.
By the next morning the lights were on, Mom was cooking breakfast in the kitchen and the excitement was over.
Anyone out there remember the Blackout besides me? Or am I the only oldster out here?
