August 14th...This Day in History (Now with links to other events)

Blackout hits Northeast United States 2003

 

On this day in 2003, a major outage knocked out power across the eastern United States and parts of Canada. Beginning at 4:10 p.m. ET, 21 power plants shut down in just three minutes. Fifty million people were affected, including residents of New York, Cleveland and Detroit, as well as Toronto and Ottawa, Canada. Although power companies were able to resume some service in as little as two hours, power remained off in other places for more than a day. The outage stopped trains and elevators, and disrupted everything from cellular telephone service to operations at hospitals to traffic at airports. In New York City, it took more than two hours for passengers to be evacuated from stalled subway trains. Small business owners were affected when they lost expensive refrigerated stock. The loss of use of electric water pumps interrupted water service in many areas. There were even some reports of people being stranded mid-ride on amusement park roller coasters. At the New York Stock Exchange and bond market, though, trading was able to continue thanks to backup generators.

Authorities soon calmed the fears of jittery Americans that terrorists may have been responsible for the blackout, but they were initially unable to determine the cause of the massive outage. American and Canadian representatives pointed figures at each other, while politicians took the opportunity to point out major flaws in the region’s outdated power grid. Finally, an investigation by a joint U.S.-Canada task force traced the problem back to an Ohio company, FirstEnergy Corporation. When the company’s EastLake plant shut down unexpectedly after overgrown trees came into contact with a power line, it triggered a series of problems that led to a chain reaction of outages. FirstEnergy was criticized for poor line maintenance, and more importantly, for failing to notice and address the problem in a timely manner–before it affected other areas.

Despite concerns, there were very few reports of looting or other blackout-inspired crime. In New York City, the police department, out in full force, actually recorded about 100 fewer arrests than average. In some places, citizens even took it upon themselves to mitigate the effects of the outage, by assisting elderly neighbors or helping to direct traffic in the absence of working traffic lights.

In New York City alone, the estimated cost of the blackout was more than $500 million.

 (More Events on This Day in History)

• American Revolution

• 1776 Stamp Act remembered

• Automotive

• 1998 Hundred-year-old Michelin Man makes appearance in Monterey

• Civil War

• 1862 Confederate invasion of Kentucky begins

• Cold War

• 1980 Massive labor strikes hit Poland

• Crime

• 1751 A daughter poisons her father
• 1994 The terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal is captured

• Disaster

• 1933 Logging accident sparks forest fire in Oregon Coast Range

• General Interest

• 1784 Russians settle Alaska
• 1900 Peking relieved by multinational force

• Hollywood

• 1945 Steve Martin born

• Literary

• 1834 Richard Henry Dana sets sail from Boston Harbor

• Music

• 1985 Michael Jackson takes control of the Beatles’ publishing rights

• Old West

• 1831 Montana “Vigilante X” is born

• Presidential

• 1935 FDR signs Social Security Act

• Sports

• 1971 Pitching ace throws first no-hitter

• Vietnam War

• 1964 Hanoi prepares for more air attacks
• 1965 Seventh Marines land at Chu Lai
• 1972 Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark reports on his tour of North Vietnam
• 1973 U.S. bombing of Cambodia ceases

• World War I

• 1917 China declares war on Germany

• World War II

• 1945 Japan’s surrender made public