Today in the history of astronomy, an intense three-day solar storm begins. | Published: May 13, 2026 Aurora during the 1921 solar storm, like these photographed at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, were seen at far lower latitudes than typicial. Credit: O.H. Truman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons On May 13, 1921, the first in a series of strong coronal mass ejections (CMEs), driven by a huge and complex sunspot group, reached Earth. A second followed the same day, their combined force essentially clearing the space between the Earth and Sun of interplanetary plasma. This allowed a third CME, which hit May 14, to impact Earth at full force. Aurorae danced across the sky at remarkably low latitudes, but other effects were more grim: Communications networks were crippled , and telegraph services around the world were weakened or disabled.…