Solar Eclipses of Historical Interest

Fred Espenak

Both the popular and technical literature contain many references to solar eclipses of the past. Some of these references are from ancient texts. In other cases, they are attempts to tie an eclipse with a historical event. The purpose of this web page is to present eclipse calculations for many such eclipses mentioned in the literature.

The inclusion of an historical event in the tables below does not imply validation of the historical event nor its connection with an eclipse. Some events may be either apocryphal or fictional, or an eclipse may be incorrectly associated with a particular event. The eclipse maps and calculations are simply presented so that they may be compared with references in the literature. It is left to the reader to evaluate whether the eclipse association is valid or not.

The following two tables list solar eclipses identified with some historical event of note. When selected, each Calendar Date links to a global map of Earth showing the region of visibility for that eclipse. The path of the Moon's penumbral shadow covers the region of partial eclipse, while the track of the umbral shadow defines the path of total or annular eclipse. These figures are described in greater detail in the Key to Solar Eclipse Maps. Each figure is stored as a GIF of about 65 kilobytes.

The column labeled Eclipse Type links to a dynamic Google map with the eclipse path plotted on it. You can scroll and zoom in to any part of the eclipse path. If you click on a location, an marker will be plotted that gives the eclipse circumstances at that position. Markers can be dragged around with the mouse and the eclipse circumstances are automatically updated.

The column labeled Central Duration gives the greatest duration of the eclipse. It links to a table of eclipse path coordinates that permit the plotting the track on higher detail maps.

The last column gives the historical reference for each eclipse. Additional sources and/or literary references to many of these eclipses may be found at:

Ancient and Early Medieval Eclipses in European Sources

Eclipse Quotations

The references at the bottom of this page provide additional information on solar eclipses of historical interest. Visit Solar Eclipses for Beginners for a basic primer on eclipses of the Sun. A complementary web page Lunar Eclipses of Historical Interest is also available.

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This web site is a work in progress. If you know of an historic eclipse of interest, please email the date and a little information or reference about the event to fred.espenak@nasa.gov. I will generate a map for the eclipse and add it to this page.

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Solar Eclipses: 2000 BCE to 1 BCE[3]
Calender Date	Eclipse Type	Ecl. Mag. [1]	Central Duration [2]	Event/Description/Reference
(Link to Global Map)	(Link to Google Map)		(Link to Path Table)
-2136 Oct 22 (2137 BCE)	Annular	0.974	02m52s	Ho and Hi, the Drunk Astronomers See Note
-1374 May 03 (1375 BCE)	Total	1.029	02m05s	Ugarit Eclipse "On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance." - Early Mesopotamian Records
-1301 Jun 05 (1302 BCE)	Total	1.080	06m24s	Early Chinese Eclipse "Three flames ate the sun, and big stars were seen." - Chinese writings of the Shang Dynasty
-1177 Apr 16 (1178 BCE)	Total	1.060	04m34s	Odyssey Eclipse ". . . and the Sun has perished out of heaven, and an evil mist hovers over all." from Homer, The Odyssey Wikipedia
-0898 Apr 21 (899 BCE)	Annular	0.959	03m05s	China's 'Double-Dawn' Eclipse "During the first year of the reign of King Yi, in the first month of spring, the sun rose twice at Zheng." - the Bamboo Annals
-0762 Jun 15 (763 BCE)	Total	1.060	04m59s	Assyrian Eclipse "Insurrection in the city of Ashur. In the month Sivan, the Sun was eclipsed." from The Assyrian Chronicles See Note Wikipedia
-0647 Apr 06 (648 BCE)	Total	1.069	05m02s	Archilochus' Eclipse See Note
-0584 May 28 (585 BCE)	Total	1.080	06m05s	Thales Eclipse (Medes vs. Lydians) from Herodotus, History I See Note Wikipedia
-0556 May 19 (557 BCE)	Total	1.026	02m22s	The Siege of Larisa "...A cloud, however, overspread the sun and hid it from sight until the inhabitants abandoned their city; and thus it was taken." from Xenophon, "Anabasis"
-0479 Oct 02 (480 BCE)	Annular	0.932	07m58s	Xerxes' Eclipse "...while he was offering sacrifice to know if he should march out against the Persian, the sun was suddenly darkened in mid sky" from Herodotus, History, IX, 10 Wikipedia
-0430 Aug 03 (431 BCE)	Annular	0.984	01m04s	Peloponnesian War ". . . the sun assumed the shape of a crescent and became full again, and during the eclipse some stars became visible." - Thucydides See Note Wikipedia
-0423 Mar 21 (424 BCE)	Annular	0.943	04m38s	8th Year of Peloponnesian War "In first days of the next summer there was an eclipse of the sun at the time of new moon, and in the early part of the same month an earthquake." from The History of the Peloponnesian War Wikipedia

Solar Eclipses: 1 CE to 2000 CE[3]
Calender Date	Eclipse Type	Ecl. Mag. [1]	Central Duration [2]	Event/Description/Reference
(Link to Global Map)	(Link to Google Map)		(Link to Path Table)
0029 Nov 24 map 2	Total	1.022	01m59s	Crucifixion of Christ? See References Wikipedia
0033 Mar 19	Total	1.058	04m06s	Crucifixion of Christ? See References Wikipedia
0059 Apr 30	Total	1.019	01m50s	Plinius' Eclipse "Then the sun was suddenly darkened and the fourteen districts of the city were struck by lightning" from The Annals
0071 Mar 20	Hybrid	1.007	00m35s	Plutarch's Eclipse See note Wikipedia
0334 Jul 17	Annular	0.976	02m23s	Firmicus's Eclipse See Note
0346 Jun 06	Total	1.059	03m58s	-
0418 Jul 19	Total	1.046	03m52s	Comet During an Eclipse See Note
0569 Nov 24	Total	1.036	03m17s	Eclipse Preceding Birth of Mohammad Wikipedia
0632 Jan 27	Annular	0.984	01m40s	Death of Mohammad's Son Ibrahim "When his beloved son Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred, and rumours of God's personal condolence quickly arose." from Prayers of Muhammad Wikipedia
0671 Dec 07	Annular	0.924	10m18s	-
0840 May 05	Total	1.076	05m46s	Emperor Louis' Eclipse (Treaty of Verdun) "In the third year of the Indiction, the Sun was hidden from this world and stars appeared in the sky as if it were midnight, on the third day before the Nones of May (May 5) during the Litanies of Our Lord" from Andreas Bergomatis Chronicon Wikipedia
0968 Dec 22	Total	1.030	02m28s	First Clear Corona Description See Note
1133 Aug 02	Total	1.065	04m38s	King Henry's Eclipse See Note Wikipedia
1230 May 14	Total	1.060	03m17s	Major European Eclipse See Note
1337 Mar 03	Annular	0.954	04m32s	Jean de Murs Eclipse See Note
1605 Oct 12	Total	1.034	02m43s	Scientific Comment on Corona See Note
1715 May 03	Total	1.063	04m14s	Edmund Halley's Eclipse "A few seconds before the sun was all hid, there discovered itself round the moon a luminous ring about a digit, or perhaps a tenth part of the moon's diameter, in breadth" from Edmund Halley in Philosophical Transactions Wikipedia
1724 May 22	Total	1.064	04m33s	Corona Part of Sun See Note
1733 May 13	Total	1.066	04m06s	Prominences Seen with Unaided Eye See Note
1766 Aug 05	Annular	0.943	05m15s	Captain Cook's Eclipse Wikipedia
1806 Jun 16	Total	1.060	04m55s	Tecumseh's Eclipse Eclipse-Chasers Article See Note Wikipedia
1831 Feb 12	Annular	0.981	01m57s	Nat Turner's Eclipse Wikipedia
1836 May 15	Annular	0.951	04m47s	Baily's Beads See Note
1842 Jul 08	Total	1.054	04m05s	Corona and Prominences part of Sun's Atmosphere See Note
1851 Jul 28	Total	1.058	03m41s	First Eclipse Expedition See Note
1860 Jul 18	Total	1.050	03m39s	First Wet Plate Eclipse Photograph See Note
1868 Aug 18	Total	1.076	06m47s	King of Siam's Eclipse Article See Note Wikipedia
1869 Aug 07	Total	1.055	03m48s	New element in Sun's Corona? See Note
1870 Dec 22	Total	1.025	02m11s	Janssen Escape Eclipse See Note
1871 Dec 12	Total	1.047	04m23s	Corona Hot Gas and Cooler Particles See Note
1878 Jul 29	Total	1.045	03m11s	Pike's Peak Eclipse See Note Wikipedia
1879 Jan 22	Annular	0.970	03m03s	Zulu War Eclipse Wikipedia
1887 Aug 19	Total	1.052	03m50s	Eclipse from 11,500 feet See Note
1912 Apr 17	Hybrid	1.000	00m02s	The 'Titanic' Eclipse
1919 May 29	Total	1.072	06m51s	Einstein's Eclipse (Test of General Relativity) See Note Eclipse that Changed the Universe Wikipedia
1922 Sep 21	Total	1.068	05m59s	General Relativity Reconfirmation See Note
1925 Jan 24	Total	1.030	02m32s	NYC's Winter Morning Eclipse New York Times
1932 Aug 31	Total	1.026	01m45s	Great Maine Eclipse See Note
1973 Jun 30	Total	1.079	07m04s	Jet Used for 10X the Totality See Note

[1] Eclipse magnitude is the fraction of the Sun's diameter obscured by the Moon. For annular eclipses, the eclipse magnitude is always less than 1. For total eclipses, the eclipse magnitude is always greater than or equal to 1. For both annular and total eclipses, the value listed is actually the ratio of diameters between the Moon and the Sun.

[2] Central Duration is the duration of a total or annular eclipse at Greatest Eclipse. Greatest Eclipse is the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to Earth's center.

[3] BCE and CE are abbreviations for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era," respectively. They are the secular equivalents to the BC and AD dating conventions. (See: Year Dating Conventions)

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Notes

-2136 Oct 22 - Ho and Hi, the Drunk Astronomers

"Here lie the bodies of Ho and Hi Whose fate though sad was visible, Being hanged because they could not spy Th'eclipse which was invisible."
- Author unknown

-0762 Jun 15 - Assyrian Eclipse

"I will make the Sun go down at noon, and darken the Earth in broad daylight"
- The Bible Amos 8:9

-0647 April 06 - Archilochus' Eclipse

"Zeus, the father of the Olympic Gods, turned mid-day into night, hiding the light of the dazzling Sun; and sore fear came upon men."
"Nothing can be surprising any more or impossible or miraculous, now that Zeus, father of the Olympians has made night out of noonday, hiding the bright sunlight, and . . . fear has come upon mankind. After this, men can believe anything, expect anything. Don't any of you be surprised in future if land beasts change places with dolphins and go to live in their salty pastures, and get to like the sounding waves of the sea more than the land, while the dolphins prefer the mountains."
- Archilochus, Greek poet

-0584 May 28 - Herodotus/Thales Eclipse

"When, in the sixth year they encountered one another, it so fell out that, after they had joined battle, the day suddenly turned into night. Now that this transformation of day (into night) would occur was foretold to the Ionians by Thales of Miletus, who fixed as the limit of time this very year in which the change actually took place."
". . . there was war between the Lydians and the Medes five years. . . . They were still warring with equal success, when it chanced, at an encounter which happened in the sixth year, that during the battle the day turned to night. Thales of Miletus had foretold this loss of daylight to the Ionians, fixing it within the year in which the change did indeed happen. So when the Lydians and Medes saw the day turned to night, they ceased from fighting, and both were the more zealous to make peace."
- History I, 74 by Herodotus

-0430 Aug 03 - Peloponnesian War

"Oldest European record of a verifiable solar eclipse (annular)--by the Greek historian Thucydides"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

0071 Mar 20 - Plutarch's Eclipse

'Now, grant me that nothing that happens to the sun is so like its setting as a solar eclipse. You will, if you call to mind this conjunction recently which, beginning just after noonday, made many stars shine out from many parts of the sky and tempered the air in the manner of twilight. If you do not recall it, Theon here will cite us Mimnermus and Cydias and Archilochus and Stesichorus besides and Pindar, who during eclipses bewail "the brightest star bereft" and "at midday night falling" and say that the beam of the sun "(is sped) the path of shade" '.
- "De facie in orbe lunae (On the face on the moon)" in Plutarch's Moralia XII by Plutarch
See: Stepenson and Fatoohi

0334 July 17 - Firmicus's Eclipse

"Firmicus (Sicily) is first to report solar prominences, seen during an annular eclipse"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

0418 Jul 19 - Comet During an Eclipse

"First report of a comet dis- covered during a solar eclipse, seen by the historian Philostorgius in Asia Minor"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

0968 Dec 22 - First Clear Corona Description

"First clear description of the corona seen during a total eclipse--by a chronicler in Constantinople"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1133 Aug 02 - King Henry's Eclipse

"The elements manifested their sorrow at this great man's [King Henry 1] departure from England. For the Sun on that day at the 6th hour shrouded his glorious face, as the poets say, in hideous darkness, agitating the hearts of men by an eclipse; and on the 6th day of the week early in the morning there was so great an earthquake that the ground appeared absolutely to sink down; an horrid noise being first heard beneath the surface."
- Historia Novella by William of Malmesbury

"In this year King Henry went over sea at Lammas, and the second day as he lay and slept on the ship the day darkened over all lands; and the Sun became as it were a three-night-old Moon, and the stars about it at mid-day. Men were greatly wonder-stricken and were affrighted, and said that a great thing should come thereafter. So it did, for the same year the king died on the following day after St Andrew's Mass-day, Dec 2 in Normandy."
- The Anglo Saxon Chronicle

1230 May 14 - Major European Eclipse

"On the 14th May, which was the Tuesday in Rogation Week, the unusual eclipse of the Sun took place very early in the morning, immediately after sunrise; and it became so dark that the labourers, who had commenced their morning's work, were obliged to leave it, and returned again to their beds to sleep; but in about an hour's time, to the astonishment of many, the Sun regained its usual brightness."
- Flores Historiarum by Rogerus de Wendover

1337 Mar 03 - Jean de Murs Eclipse

"Solar eclipse observed by Jean de Murs in St. Germain des Pres. He notes that there was a large error between the observed time and the time given by the Alphonsine tables and said that it is "necessary to quickly correct" the tables."
- Dr. John Steele

1724 May 22 - Corona Part of Sun

"JosŽ Joaquin de Ferrer (Spain), observing at Kinderhook, New York, gives the name corona to the glow of the faint outer atmosphere of the Sun seen during a total eclipse; he proposes that the corona must belong to the Sun, not the Moon, because of its great size"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1733 May 13 - Prominences Seen with Unaided Eye

"Birger Wassenius (Sweden), observing an eclipse near Gšteborg, is the first to report prominences visible to the unaided eye; he attributes them to the Moon"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1715 May 03 - Edmund Halley's Eclipse

Quote above from "Observations of the Late Total Eclipse of the Sun on the 22d of April Last Past . . .," Philosophical Transactions, 29 (1714-16): 245-6 by Edmond Halley

1806 Jun 16 - Tecumseh's Eclipse

"Johannes Kepler (Germany) is the first to comment scientifically on the solar corona, suggesting that it is light reflected from matter around the Sun (based on reports of eclipses; he never saw a total eclipse)"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1836 May 15 - Baily's Beads

"Francis Baily (United Kingdom), during an annular eclipse in Scotland, calls attention to the brief bright beads of light that appear close to totality as the Sun's disk is blocked except for sunlight streaming through lunar valleys along the limb. This phenomenon becomes known as Baily's Beads"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1842 Jul 8 - Corona and Prominences part of Sun's Atmosphere

"Francis Baily (United Kingdom), at an eclipse in Italy, focuses attention on the corona and prominences and identifies them as part of the Sun's atmosphere"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1851 Jul 28 - First Eclipse Expedition

"The aspect of Nature during the total eclipse was grand beyond descriptions. This feature is dwelt upon with more than usual emphasis in many of the published accounts. I have never seen it suggested that the mountainous character of the country might have had something to do with it, but that idea would seem not improbable."
- Hind

"First astronomical photograph of a total eclipse: a daguerreotype by Berkowski at Kšnigsberg, Prussia"
"Robert Grant and William Swan (United Kingdom) and Karl Ludwig von Littrow (Austria) determine that prominences are part of the Sun because the Moon is seen to cover and uncover them as it moves in front of the Sun"
"George B. Airy (United Kingdom) is the first to describe the Sun's chromosphere: he calls it the sierra, thinking that he is seeing mountains on the Sun, but he is actually seeing small prominences (spicules) that give the chromosphere a jagged appear- ance. Because of its reddish color, J. Norman Lockyer names this layer of the Sun's atmos- phere the chromosphere in 1868"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

"The prominences were clearly visible, especially a large hooked protuberance. This remarkable stream of hydrogen gas, rendered incandescent while passing through the heated photosphere of the Sun, attracted the attention of nearly all the observers at the different stations."
- Edwin Dunkin

"The appearance of the corona, shining with a cold unearthly light, made an impression on my mind which can never be effaced, and an involuntary feeling of loneliness and disquietude came upon meÉ A party of haymakers, who had been laughing and chatting merrily at their work during the early part of the eclipse, were now seated on the ground, in a group near the telescope, watching what was taking place with the greatest interest, and preserving a profound silenceÉ A crow was the only animal near me; it seemed quite bewildered, croaking and flying backwards and forwards near the ground in an uncertain manner."
- Article in Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society by John Couch Adams

1860 Jul 18 - First Wet Plate Eclipse Photograph

"First wet plate photographs of an eclipse; they require 1/30 of the exposure time of a daguerreotype"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1868 Aug 18 - King of Siam's Eclipse

"During an eclipse seen from the Red Sea through India to Malaysia and New Guinea, prominences are first studied with spectroscopes and shown to be composed primar- ily of hydrogen by James Francis Tennant (United Kingdom), John Herschel (United Kingdom--son of John F. W. Herschel, grandson of William), Jules Janssen (France), Georges Rayet (France) and Norman Pogson (United Kingdom/India)"
"Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen (France) and J. Norman Lockyer (United Kingdom) independently demonstrate that prominences are part of the Sun (not Moon) by observing them in days after the eclipse of August 18"
"J. Norman Lockyer (United King- dom) identifies a yellow spectral line in the Sun's corona as the signature of a chemical element as yet unknown on Earth. He later names it helium, after the Greek word helios, the Sun. Helium is first identified on Earth by William Ramsay in 1895"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1869 Aug 07 - New element in Sun's Corona?

"Charles Augustus Young and William Harkness (United States) independently discover a new bright (emission) line in the spectrum of the Sun's corona, never before observed on Earth; they ascribe it to a new element and it is named coronium. In 1941, this green line is identi- fied by Bengt Edlen (Sweden) as iron that has lost 13 electrons"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1870 Dec 22 - Janssen Escape Eclipse

"Jules Janssen (France) uses a balloon to escape the German siege of Paris in order to study the December 22 eclipse in Al- geria. He reaches Algeria, but the eclipse is clouded out"
"Charles A. Young (United States), observing an eclipse in Spain, discovers that the chromosphere is the layer in the solar atmos- phere that produces the dark lines in the Sun's spectrum"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1871 Dec 12 - Corona Hot Gas and Cooler Particles

"Jules Janssen (France) uses spectroscopy from an eclipse in India to propose that the corona consists of both hot gases and cooler particles and hence is part of the Sun"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1878 Jul 29 - Pike's Peak Eclipse

"Samuel P. Langley and Cleveland Abbe (United States), observing from Pike's Peak in Colorado, and Simon Newcomb (United States), observing from Wyoming, notice coronal streamers extending more than 6 degrees from the Sun along the ecliptic and suggest that this glow is the origin of the zodiacal light"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1887 Aug 19 - Eclipse from 11,500 feet

"Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev (Russia) uses a balloon to ascend above the cloud cover to an altitude of 11,500 feet (3.5 kilometers) to observe an eclipse in Russia"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1919 May 29 - Einstein's Eclipse (Test of General Relativity)

"Arthur S. Eddington (United Kingdom) and co-workers, observing a total solar eclipse from Principe and Brazil, confirm the bending of starlight by gravity as predicted by Einstein in his general theory of relativity"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1919 May 29 - General Relativity Reconfirmation

"William Wallace Campbell and Robert J. Trumpler (United States) reconfirm Einstein's relativistic bending of starlight during an eclipse in Wallal, Australia"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1932 Aug 31 - Great Maine Eclipse

"G. G. Cillie (United Kingdom) and Donald H. Menzel (United States) use eclipse spectra to show that the Sun's corona has a higher temperature (faster atomic motion) than the photosphere. Confirmed, with much higher temperatures, by R. O. Redman during an eclipse in South Africa on October 1, 1940"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

1973 Jun 30 - Jet Used for 10X the Totality

"John Beckman (United Kingdom) and other scientists use a Concorde supersonic passenger jet flying at 1,250 miles per hour (2,000 kilometers per hour) over Africa to extend the duration of solar eclipse totality to 74 minutes--10 times longer than can ever be observed from the ground"
- Eclipses of the Sun (3rd edition) by Littmann, Espenak, and Willcox

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References

For more information on eclipses of historic interest, see the following:

Brewer, B., Eclipse, Earth View, Seattle, 1991.

Harris, Joel K., and Talcott, Richard L. Chasing the Shadow, Kalmbach Publishing Co, 1994

Humphreys, Colin J. and Waddington, W. G., "Dating the Crucifixion", Nature, Vol. 306, No. 5945, p.743-746, 22 December 1983.

Littmann, M., Willcox, K., and Espenak, F. Totality - Eclipses of the Sun, Oxford University Press, New York, 1999.

Schaefer, Bradley E., "Solar Eclipses That Changed the World", Sky and Telescope, May, 1994, p.36-39.

Schaefer, Bradley E., "Lunar Eclipses That Changed the World", Sky and Telescope, December, 1992, p.639-642.

Schaefer, Bradley E., "Dating the Crucifixion", Sky and Telescope, April, 1989, p.374.

Schaefer, Bradley E., "Lunar Visibility and the Crucifixion", Q.Jl. R. astr. Soc., 1990, 31, p.53-67.

Steel, Duncan, Eclipse: The Celestial Phenomenon That Changed the Course of History (Washington, D.C.: The Joseph Henry Press, 2001)

Walters, Alice N., "Ephemeral Events: English Broadsides of Early Eighteenth-Century Solar Eclipses," Hist. Sci. 37 (1999)