1859: A magnetic explosion on the sun causes bright auroras on Earth and upends the the fledgling telegraph network.

On Sept. 2, 1859, at the telegraph office at No. 31 State Street in Boston at 9:30 a.m., the operators’ lines were overflowing with current, so they unplugged the batteries connected to their machines, and kept working using just the electricity coursing through the air.

In the wee hours of that night, the most brilliant auroras ever recorded had broken out across the skies of the Earth. People in Havana and Florida reported seeing them. The New York Times ran a 3,000-word...

Gearheads have been racing each other online for years, and a couple have managed to parlay their online success into success on the track. Now six of them are going to go head-to-head with former F1 hotshoe David Coulthard.

On Monday (Labor Day), the 13-time Formula 1 winner and current DTM ace will climb into a Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS “Gullwing.” At exactly the same time, six gamers will roll out of the Gran Turismo 5 paddock in their own Gullwings and line up for a 10-lap showdown against Coulthard. We’ll be live-streaming the action right here on Monday.

The competition follows a shakedown...