During the 1859 solar storm, telegraph operators disconnected their batteries entirely — yet messages kept flowing on the storm's own current as sparks showered from the machines and the paper caught

On September 2, 1859, telegraph operators George Wood in Boston and Frederick Royce in Portland unplugged their batteries during the Carrington Event and kept sending messages on the geomagnetic current induced by the storm itself — while elsewhere on the network, sparks jumped from keys and paper tape caught fire. On the morning of September 2, 1859, telegraph operators in Boston and Portland reported equipment sparking and shocks from the keys. The two men decided to unplug their batteries entirely and try sending messages on whatever was loose in the wires. ... [9358 chars]