Sept. 2, 1859: Telegraphs Run on Electric Air in Crazy Magnetic Storm

1859: A magnetic explosion on the sun causes bright auroras on Earth and upends the the fledgling telegraph network. On Sept. 2, 1859, at the telegraph office at No. 31 State Street in Boston at 9:30 a.m., the operators’ lines were overflowing with current, so they unplugged the batteries connected to their machines, and kept [...]