Supposedly it is an urban legend that birth rates go up nine months after events like blackouts and blizzards. This page at snopes.com has links to original speculative articles from the New York Times about the repercussions of the 1965 blackout in the New York City area, as well as a follow-up study from Demography magazine. The power went out on November 9, 1965 and, according to Lyle B. Borst, the height of the baby boom in the NYC area occurred on August 7, 1966. Urban legend or not, I can't help but notice that I was born on August 6, 1966 in Nassau County, Long Island (just outside New York City). Merely a coincidence? Perhaps. :-)