Between the big solar flare this week and the report last week that there was a 12% chance of us seeing an enormous, technology-trashing solar flare in the next ten years, there has been a fair amount of talk lately about the upside of being bombarded with solar radiation. Namely, seeing the Northern Lights further south. Like in New York City. But—fun fact—the aurora borealis has actually stopped by the five boroughs quite a number of times over the years.

The 1859 "Carrington Event," which was seen world-wide, gets the most press in that regard, but it was not an isolated incident. Just a really big one.

For example on May 28, 1877 The Times reported [PDF] seeing the "heavens ablaze for more than two hours" at the same time that telegraph wires went wonky up and down the coast. "Such a brilliant display of northern lights as was seen in this City last night has not been witnessed for several years....not since the wonderful exhibition of the Spring of 1860 has anything so sublime been observed as the play last night of the fire that glowed vividly from the horizon to zenith."

After 1877 there were a number of auroral displays seen over the city, which were mostly noted by local newspapers for their ability to shut down the telegraph system (something which took some time for people to make sense of).

Then, on September 18, 1941 came our favorite example of the lights in town, mostly for its terrible timing. That solar storm hit right in the middle of a home playoff game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates—and it forced the game off the radio with the score still at 0-0. As the Times headline put it, "Dodger Fans See Red as Broadcast Fails." Otherwise the light show was something else: "Even from the Times Square district, with its brilliant ground-lighting, a green arch, reaching higher than the Big Dipper, was visible during the evening," the Times reported.

The lights kept coming after that, too. On July 26, 1946 the Northern Lights made a show over the city that one Gothamist reader still remembers. "When I was in my mid teens, in Williamsburg Brooklyn, there was a spectacular display one summer night," they wrote to us. "I remember it vividly. I've never seen one before or since."

All of which is to say, don't worry. If the Northern Lights were to appear overhead it doesn't necessarily mean "catastrophe."