As the sun set on Wednesday, July 13, 1977, a series of lightning strikes on power lines and infrastructure led to a cascade of shutdowns, overloads and failures. An hour after the first strike, the entire Con Edison system powering New York City shut down completely.

Lights went dark, elevators stalled, subways ground to a halt. The Mets-Cubs game at Shea stadium ended in the bottom of the sixth inning.

This crisis came amidst a sweltering heat wave, a financial downturn, rising poverty and inequality, and an atmosphere of paranoia brought on by the Son of Sam murders.

No sooner had the lights gone out than the looting and arson began. Over a thousand fires were reported, and more than 1,600 stores damaged or ransacked.

The chaos was a marked contrast to the “can-do" attitude of New Yorkers in the previous great blackout of 1965. Despite the prevalent mood of panic, many did spring into action, helping neighbors in need, directing traffic and trying to keep the peace.

Power was slowly restored over the next day, with the entire city online by 10:39 p.m. All told, in 24 hours 3,700 people had been arrested and more than $300 million of property had been damaged.