How One Switch Blacked Out 30 Million People | The Grid (1965 Northeast Blackout)

Right now, almost every power station in your country is spinning in perfect step, like one giant machine. This is the story of how isolated power stations became the grid: Samuel Insull and the first utility, how two generators are synchronised, why the world runs at 50 or 60 cycles, Britain's National Grid, and the Northeast blackout of 9 November 1965, when one relay set too low left 30 million people in the dark. Drawn as a living blueprint. CHAPTERS 0:00 One machine, one switch 0:33 Islands of electricity 1:00 Samuel Insull and the utility 1:40 How to join two generators 2:16 50 or 60: the beat 2:46 The grid's heartbeat (and the kettle surge) 3:22 Britain's National Grid 4:01 North America's web 4:28 9 November 1965: the trip 5:13 New York in the dark 5:48 Lessons (and 2003) 6:20 The largest machine ever built 6:49 Next: atomic power Legends are marked as legends: the "blackout baby boom" of 1966 was not supported by the birth records (Udry, 1970). Previous episode: The War of the Currents. Next episode: the first nuclear power plant. Behind The First: the story behind the things we use. SOURCES Northeast blackout of 1965 and of 2003 (Wikipedia; NPCC; U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force); National Grid (Great Britain) (Wikipedia); Utility frequency (Wikipedia); Samuel Insull (Wikipedia, ETHW, Loyola University Chicago archives); Fisk Generating Station (ASME landmark); TV pickup (National Grid ESO); NERC history; J. R. Udry, Demography (1970). IMAGE CREDITS (Wikimedia Commons) Samuel-Insull-Portrait.jpg (Public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Edison and phonograph edit2.jpg (Public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... NORTH (MAIN) ENTRANCE TO ORIGINAL (1903) FISK STREET POWERHOUSE, THE GENERATING ROOM, LOOKING SOUTH. - Commonwealth Electric Company, Fisk Street Electrical Generating Station HAER ILL, 16-CHIG, 140-8.tif (Public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Synchroscope.jpg (Public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... The British Grid System- the work of the Central Electricity Board in Wartime, c March 1945 D24277.jpg (Public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... The Subway Sun Extra We're Proud of You...jpg (Public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sir Adam Beck II Hydro Plant (6156838199).jpg (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... AUDIO Music: original tracks by the channel. Narration: synthetic voice (Microsoft Azure neural TTS).