1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio Welcome Back. I'm your host Eves and you're 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: tuned into This Day in History Class, a show that 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: takes history and squeezes it into bite size stories. Today 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: is November nine. The day was November nine, n A 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: huge electrical power failure sent parts of Ontario and the 7 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: northeastern United States into darkness for up to thirteen hours. 8 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: At five six pm, a safety relay on a transmission 9 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: line at Sir Adam Beck Station on the Ontario side 10 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: of Niagara Falls trips that sent a surge of power 11 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: south and caused nearby power lines to overload and fail. 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: The failure caused blackouts in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, 13 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and the Canadian province 14 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: of Ontario. Some cities that had their own electric utilities 15 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: were not plunged into darkness, though around thirty million people 16 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 1: were affected by the blackout. The full moon that night 17 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: did provide some light. Since it was a weekday rush 18 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: hour when the blackout began, it was particularly disruptive. People 19 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: were trapped in subways and elevators, and stop lights were out. 20 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: Airplanes were unable to land, and trains were brought to 21 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: a halt. Backup generators allowed telephone exchanges in some radio 22 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: stations to keep running. Police and the National Guard were 23 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: called in to stop looting, but there were a few 24 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: instances of riding or looting. During the confusion. Television networks 25 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: faced a problem and getting news out about the blackout, 26 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: since they relied on electricity. CBS's news program, which originated 27 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: in New York, had to turn to a backup studio 28 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: in Washington, and anchor Walter Cronkite had to deliver the 29 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: blackout story by telephone to anchor Roger mud and wash Ington. 30 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: The New York Times had to print a ten page 31 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: paper for November tenth at the printing presses of a 32 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: New Jersey publisher. The Times was New York City's only 33 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: major daily paper to put out an addition on the 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: morning of the tenth. Power was gradually restored to the 35 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,959 Speaker 1: affected areas throughout the night and into the morning. Questions 36 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: and rumors swirled about the cause of the outage, including 37 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: one that it was an act of sabotage. People feared 38 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: it was an attack, partly due to Cold War tensions 39 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: but authorities denied there was any foul play. Human interest 40 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: stories were printed in newspapers. One story, for instance, reported 41 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: that a boy in New Hampshire hit a light pole 42 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: at the exact moment the power went out, and he 43 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: ran home, thinking he caused the blackout. US President Lyndon B. 44 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: Johnson sent a memorandum to the Chairman of the Federal 45 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: Power Commission, staying, in part, today's failure is a dramatic 46 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: reminder of the importance of the uninterrupted flow of power 47 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: to the health, safety, and well being of our citizens, 48 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: and the defense of our country. This failure should be 49 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: immediately and carefully investigated in order to prevent a recurrence. 50 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: It took investigators less than a week to figure out 51 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: the cause of the blackout, the faulty relay, and officials 52 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: announced the failure to the public. After the blackout, people 53 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: were compelled to reconsider their reliance on electricity. Electrical engineers 54 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: re examined the power grid system and regional reliability. Counsels 55 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: that established industry standards, share information for systems analysis, and 56 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: coordinate system design and operation were formed. In the wake 57 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: of the nineteen sixty blackout. A myth emerged that a 58 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: high number of babies were born nine months to the 59 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: day after the blackout, but it was debunked. Some conspiracy theorists, 60 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: though still doubt that the relay was the reason for 61 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: the blackout. I'm each Jeff Coo and hopefully you know 62 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 63 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: Send your best history memes to us at t d 64 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: i h C Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and 65 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: you can sing your thoughts are comments to us at 66 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: this day at I heart media dot com. Thank you 67 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: for listening to today's episode. We'll see you again tomorrow 68 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: with another one. Stop For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio, 69 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 70 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.