SQUIRREL CAUSES POWER OUTAGE IN CAPITOL BUILDING
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) So you think things are "nuts" on Capitol Hill today? On October 23, 1923, "a gray squirrel*, looking for nuts, pursued his quest into the Capitol...with far reaching results."
It seems the poor creature got tangled up in a "delicate electrical fuse" in the basement where a dynamo supplies the power to the building. While the squirrel lost his life, the Capitol was "thrown into darkness." Making matters worse, it was a "gray...rainy fall day" in Washington.
The Evening Star reports that it took electricians thirty minutes to find the cause of the power outage.
*eastern gray squirrel is a tree squirrel native to eastern North America where it is the most prodigious & ecologically essential natural forest regenerator.
SOURCE
"Squirrel Puts Out All Capital Lights In Hunt For Nuts," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., October 23, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
