What is being called the largest blackout in history hit several U.S. and Canadian cities yesterday afternoon, leaving millions of people without electricity.

At presstime, televised reports said power may be restored to the five boroughs of the metro New York area by 1 a.m. on Friday. Direct's main editorial offices are located in Manhattan.

For coverage of how direct marketers in the affected areas coped with the outage, see the next edition of Direct Newsline.