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Historically significant lunar eclipses
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Historically significant lunar eclipses
Some eclipses of the Moon are mentioned in historical accounts in connection to a significant event. Lunar eclipses are somewhat rare events, although not as rare as solar eclipses, because unlike solar eclipses they can be viewed from anywhere on the dark side of the Earth. Throughout history lunar eclipses have been held to be responsible for lost battles, and have helped make possible extraordinary escapes.
The first mention of a lunar eclipse was found in the Chinese book Zhou-Shu, a book of the Zhou dynasty. The book was discovered in 280 AD, in a tomb of a king or noblemen. The eclipse mentioned in this book took place many centuries before that time. Professor S.M. Russell believes that the eclipse described in the book may refer to the event that happened on 29 January 1137 BC (-1136).
When eclipses were not well understood, they were sometimes associated with unnatural forces. Witches from the Greek region of Thessaly claimed the ability to extinguish the Moon's light and draw it down from the sky. In his famous comedy The Clouds (419 BC), Aristophanes describes the eclipse that took place two years prior to that.
the moon deserted her course and the sun at once veiled his beam threatening, no longer to give you light, if Cleon became general...
This eclipse happened during the Second Battle of Syracuse. Just as the Athenians were preparing to sail home, there was a lunar eclipse, and Nicias, described by Thucydides as a particularly superstitious man, asked the priests what he should do. The priests suggested the Athenians wait for another 27 days, and Nicias agreed. The Syracusans took advantage of this, and 76 of their ships attacked 86 Athenian ships in the harbor. The Athenians were defeated and Eurymedon was killed. Many of the ships were pushed up on to the shore, where Gylippus was waiting. He killed some of the crews and captured 18 beached ships, but a force of Athenians and Etruscans forced Gylippus back. Plutarch described this eclipse and the superstitious response:
And when all were in readiness, and none of the enemy had observed them, not expecting such a thing, the moon was eclipsed in the night, to the great fright of Nicias and others, who, for want of experience, or out of superstition, felt alarm at such appearances.
This partial lunar eclipse was seen during the Fall of Constantinople (the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire), during the siege that lasted from Thursday, 5 April 1453 until Tuesday, 29 May 1453), after which the city fell to the Ottomans. The lunar eclipse was considered to be fulfilling a prophecy for the city's demise. It is said a blood moon took place during the eclipse.
On 30 June 1503, Christopher Columbus beached his two last caravels and was stranded in Jamaica. The indigenous people of the island welcomed Columbus and his crew and fed them, but Columbus' sailors cheated and stole from the natives. After six months, the natives halted the food supply.
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Historically significant lunar eclipses
Some eclipses of the Moon are mentioned in historical accounts in connection to a significant event. Lunar eclipses are somewhat rare events, although not as rare as solar eclipses, because unlike solar eclipses they can be viewed from anywhere on the dark side of the Earth. Throughout history lunar eclipses have been held to be responsible for lost battles, and have helped make possible extraordinary escapes.
The first mention of a lunar eclipse was found in the Chinese book Zhou-Shu, a book of the Zhou dynasty. The book was discovered in 280 AD, in a tomb of a king or noblemen. The eclipse mentioned in this book took place many centuries before that time. Professor S.M. Russell believes that the eclipse described in the book may refer to the event that happened on 29 January 1137 BC (-1136).
When eclipses were not well understood, they were sometimes associated with unnatural forces. Witches from the Greek region of Thessaly claimed the ability to extinguish the Moon's light and draw it down from the sky. In his famous comedy The Clouds (419 BC), Aristophanes describes the eclipse that took place two years prior to that.
the moon deserted her course and the sun at once veiled his beam threatening, no longer to give you light, if Cleon became general...
This eclipse happened during the Second Battle of Syracuse. Just as the Athenians were preparing to sail home, there was a lunar eclipse, and Nicias, described by Thucydides as a particularly superstitious man, asked the priests what he should do. The priests suggested the Athenians wait for another 27 days, and Nicias agreed. The Syracusans took advantage of this, and 76 of their ships attacked 86 Athenian ships in the harbor. The Athenians were defeated and Eurymedon was killed. Many of the ships were pushed up on to the shore, where Gylippus was waiting. He killed some of the crews and captured 18 beached ships, but a force of Athenians and Etruscans forced Gylippus back. Plutarch described this eclipse and the superstitious response:
And when all were in readiness, and none of the enemy had observed them, not expecting such a thing, the moon was eclipsed in the night, to the great fright of Nicias and others, who, for want of experience, or out of superstition, felt alarm at such appearances.
This partial lunar eclipse was seen during the Fall of Constantinople (the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire), during the siege that lasted from Thursday, 5 April 1453 until Tuesday, 29 May 1453), after which the city fell to the Ottomans. The lunar eclipse was considered to be fulfilling a prophecy for the city's demise. It is said a blood moon took place during the eclipse.
On 30 June 1503, Christopher Columbus beached his two last caravels and was stranded in Jamaica. The indigenous people of the island welcomed Columbus and his crew and fed them, but Columbus' sailors cheated and stole from the natives. After six months, the natives halted the food supply.
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