(CNN) -- The date, in that long-gone American spring, was the same as today's: May 19. The year was 1780. The event is mostly forgotten, lost to the mists of history. Many people -- probably most people -- have never heard about it. And the question, on this anniversary of that Day of Darkness, is: In our constantly connected world, a world in which we are always in touch, always seemingly in the know, could the kind of fear that all but paralyzed the young nation that day still happen? On that day in 1780, at around noon, much of New England -- meaning much of the new America -- went black. At midday, it was midnight.
@highlight
On May 19, 1780, the skies over New England inexplicably turned black
@highlight
The day was pitch-black; people panicked, prayed, thought it was the Day of Judgment
@highlight
Researchers believe that massive forest fires in Canada contributed
@highlight
Bob Greene asks: Would people today, knowing the cause, be as frightened?
There was widespread supposition that @placeholder may have come.