The Day a Sun Storm Almost Wiped Out Humanity

About this episode

This episode discusses the Carrington Event, the worst solar storm ever recorded, and its impact on humanity.

There are countless events that have made a mark on the history of humanity in one way or another. And although some of the more important events have overshadowed smaller ones, each one has its importance and encouraged future scientific research. Have you ever heard of Carrington Event, for example? It was the worst solar storm ever recorded. On September 2, 1859, people all over Europe and North America woke up at night, confused and still tired. But when they looked out of their windows, they discovered it wasn't sunlight. Auroras appeared even in the regions where they had never been witnessed before, like Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Hawaii. The most high-tech stuff of that time, telegraph wires, shorted out throughout Europe and the US. Sparks were flying from equipment, and many human operators got electric shocks. Papers in telegraph offices burst into flames. All the machines were immediately disconnected from their batteries. Fires, ignited by short-circuits, spread over large areas. Earth's inhabitants had never seen or experienced anything like that before. At that time, very few people knew that the Sun was to blame for this chaos... So, let's figure out what a…

Topics covered

• solar storm
• Carrington Event
• geomagnetic storm
• historical events
• scientific research

Keywords

• solar storm
• Carrington Event
• geomagnetic storm
• telegraph
• auroras
• historical events
• scientific research

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: telegraph

Places: Cuba, Bahamas, Jamaica, Hawaii, Europe, North America, Earth

More episodes of Bright Side Universe

• What Would Happen If The Earth Rotated At The Speed Of Light · June 13, 2026 · 12 min
• What If You Fell Through Earth and Came Out the Other Side · June 13, 2026 · 13 min
• Scientists Discovered a Mystery Layer in Earth's Core · June 13, 2026 · 13 min
• What If People Lived Inside the Earth · June 13, 2026 · 13 min
• What If a Big Meteorite Slammed into the Moon · June 12, 2026 · 12 min
• Mysterious Man from a Non-Existent Continent - Who Was He? · June 12, 2026 · 12 min