Abstract
On the evening of 13, 1977 a series of bolts of lightning hit high-voltage transmission lines in the area of New York.1 Nine million people in the city were plunged into darkness. So began what Mayor Abraham Beame called a “night of terror” as the poor neighborhoods erupted into looting and arson. The rioters smashed their way into stores, 1600 of which were damaged, and made off with whatever they could carry: TV sets, drink, rifles, and diamonds. Even cars were hot-wired and driven away from a Bronx showroom.
Study the past if you would define the future.
Confucius
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Williams, J.B. (2018). The Electric Century. In: The Electric Century. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51155-9_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51155-9_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51154-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51155-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)