On this day in 1892, Mansfield State played Wyoming Seminary in the first nighttime public football game, at the Great Mansfield Fair in Pennsylvania.
The newly founded General Electric Company provided the lighting, hanging dim incandescent bulbs from the grandstands as well as from a tall pole in the center of the field. Ouch.
Electric lighting, as well as the game officially known as football, was only 13 years old. And since the first production automobiles were still ten years away, the fans had to manage the pre-game tailgating party via horse and buggy.
Some 18,000 people attended the game, which was called at halftime due to poor lighting conditions. The score was 0-0.
Despite the disappointing end, it’s reported that Brett Favre played well, even though he hurt his shoulder at the start of the second quarter and had to sit out the rest of the game.
P.S. Sorry about the picture: it’s actually of Minnesota vs. Michigan. They would have taken a picture of the Mansfield game, but it was too dark.