August 28 - September 2 - A great geomagnetic solar superstorm causes the Northern lights aurora to be visible as far south as Cuba and knocks out telegraph communication (also called the Carrington event).
One impact back then: A significant portion of the world's 140,000 miles of telegraph lines were unusable for a number of hours.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Christopher_Carrington
In scientific circles where solar flares, magnetic storms and other unique solar events are discussed, the occurrences of September 1-2, 1859, are the star stuff of legend. Even 144 years ago, many of Earth's inhabitants realized something momentous had just occurred. Within hours, telegraph wires in both the United States and Europe spontaneously shorted out, causing numerous fires, while the Northern Lights, solar-induced phenomena more closely associated with regions near Earth's North Pole, were documented as far south as Rome, Havana and Hawaii, with similar effects at the South Pole.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/23oct_superstorm.htm
Statistical confidence level
Hypothetically thinking, Odenwald said, what about the scenario of an 1859-type superstorm taking place in 2012 at the peak of the next sunspot cycle?
Of the nearly 300 geosynchronous Earth-orbiting (GEO) satellites in operation, "such a storm may only actually kill a few dozen of the oldest systems, but will likely reduce the operating life of all the other satellites by 5 to 10 years," Odenwald said. "That would, in the long run, be a bigger economic catastrophe."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12595708/
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