The Carrington Event was an immense solar storm that struck Earth in 1859. Auroras appeared across much of the world, reaching as far south as the Caribbean and illuminating the night brightly enough for people to read newspapers outside. Telegraph networks malfunctioned, machines sparked and several stations caught fire. In Boston and Portland, operators disconnected their batteries to protect the equipment and discovered they could still exchange messages, powered entirely by electrical currents induced in the wires by the storm.
Carrington Event
