The bystander effect was first discover in 1964 as a result of a very unfortunate event that happened outside Catherine Genovese's home in New York City. At three o'clock in the morning, someone attacked and murdered Genovese in front of her apartment building. The noise of the kiling woke up 38 of Genovese's neighbors. All of them looked out of their windoes to see what was happening. However, not one of those 38 witnesses did anything to help. No one reported the murder to the police. The whole nation was shocked by the news the next day, and psychologists had no answers to explain why these people didn't help.