Skip to main content

Questions tagged [eclipse]

For questions about history related to eclipses; the astronomical phenomenon where three celestial bodies align.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
4 votes
0 answers
275 views

Why didn't eclipses cause mass vision damage in historical societies?

We recently had an eclipse in the US and the accompanying warnings about potential vision damage from looking at the eclipse directly outside of the full totality. What I'm wondering is how eclipses ...
Emmett Palaima's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
354 views

Has anyone ever used an eclipse to scare people?

It is a recurring theme in fiction that a knowledgeable person scares off some ignorant person/people by pretending that the solar eclipse is caused by the wrath of gods, or similar. For example, see ...
domotorp's user avatar
  • 411
2 votes
1 answer
255 views

Was the concept of a solar eclipse familiar to most people in northwest Europe in the 17th century?

Is there any evidence in documents not written by astrologers, astronomers, natural philosophers, indicating the average person from northwest Europe in the 17th century would know what someone was ...
Bob516's user avatar
  • 546
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

When and where did the myth about solar eclipse affecting pregnant women start?

Evidence for presence of myth - https://www.lifecell.in/mom-and-baby/pregnancy/care/eclipse-harmful-pregnant-women-myth-or-truth In India, eclipse is linked to many dos and don’ts for everybody as ...
user13107's user avatar
  • 129
34 votes
6 answers
11k views

What was the first solar eclipse that was demonstrably predicted in advance?

There is a famous story going back to Herodotus according to which Thales of Miletus predicted the solar eclipse of May 28, 585 BC, which interrupted a battle. Given that we don’t have a single ...
user avatar