On this day in history in 1965, there was a disruption in the supply of electricity to the northeastern part of America and some parts of Canada.
The blackout affected some parts of Ontario in Canada, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Over 30 million people within 80,000 square miles (207,000 km2) were left without electricity for up to 13 hours.
According to The New York Times, the power failure trapped 800,000 riders on New York City’s subways, traffic was jammed and aeroplanes could not land. Despite the confusion, there were very few cases of rioting, looting or other crimes during the blackout.
Ironically, the blackout was blamed on a sophisticated power system that was built to ensure electricity during an emergency.
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