#aug. 17

During the 13-hour blackout of a 500-block section of Manhattan on August 17, 1959, one grocer capitalized on his electricity. Did he have a separate generator?

The casket containing the body of Babe Ruth is carried from the Universal Funeral Chapel at 52d St. and Lexington Ave. to a waiting hearse, en route to Yankee Stadium, August 17, 1948. Ruth had died of throat cancer the day before. He lay in state at the Stadium for two days as thousands lined up to pay their respects.

This is not a test: on August 17, 1959, a 500-block section of Manhattan suffered a blackout that lasted 13 hours. A newsstand offered the afternoon papers for those who wanted to read about it (presumably beyond the blackout area).

Everyone knows about the blackouts of 1965 and 1977 (and those more recent), but few realize that a 500-block section of Manhattan lost power for 13 hours on August 17, 1959. New Yorkers coped in different ways. Here in an automat, they dine by candlelight.

On August 17, 1941, an estimated 10,000 Harlem residents showed up at the 132nd Street pier of the Hudson to board a boat for an excursion to Bear Mountain. The vessel could only accommodate 3,100, however, and in the resulting stampede, some people were killed. This woman had just seen the body of a relative.

Pete Sheehy, equipment man at Yankee Stadium, looks at the locker of Babe Ruth on August 17, 1948, the day after the Bambino's death. One of Sheehy's early duties as an employee at the stadium was to take care of Ruth's locker, at a time when the baseball immortal was at his peak.