The Geomagnetic Storm That Sparked Panic Across a Continent

On September 1, 1859, amateur astronomer Richard Carrington observed the first documented solar flare, which triggered the most powerful geomagnetic storm on record. The resulting auroras were so bright that gold miners mistook them for dawn and newspaper print could be read by their light, while telegraph systems worldwide sparked and failed. This storm, equivalent to 10 billion atomic bombs, occurs only once every 500 years, and if repeated today could cause weeks-long blackouts across entire regions of the United States.