I remember the Big NE Blackout in 1965. We were living in Utica, NY at the time. My dad's job had been transferred to Ogden Utah and he was there looking for a house for us so it was just Mom and I. I was watching cartoons on our B&W (gasp! ) TV when it got all fuzzy I was about to get my mom to fix it when the lights went out. The phones stayed up so mom called all her friends and found out the whole city (and eastern seaboard it turned out) was dead. We all got together at a friends house that had an old, huge, coal stove int he basement that they used for heating and started to cook dinner there and spend the night. The lights must have come back on arround 9-10pm (about 4-5 hours w/o electricity). I was only 4 at the time but I still remember it. It was very neat how everybody came together to help each other when it happened. Hope that spririt still pervailed a bit today.