Halley's Comet over England
An omen for King Harold, stitched into the Bayeux Tapestry
In spring 1066 Halley's Comet hung over England and was taken as a bad omen for King Harold II. That autumn he died at Hastings, and the comet was stitched into the Bayeux Tapestry beside words saying people marvel at the star.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 11th century
Did you know
The same Halley's Comet embroidered on the Bayeux Tapestry in 1066 returned in 1910 — when the Earth even passed through its tail.
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Middle East
- 1054 East–West Schism — 12 years earlier
Africa
- c. 1070 The Almoravids found Marrakesh — 4 years later
Asia
- 1044 First gunpowder formulas in the Wujing Zongyao — 22 years earlier
- 1054 Supernova SN 1054 — 12 years earlier
Alive at the time
- Edward the Confessor (aged 63)
- William the Conqueror (aged 38)
- Omar Khayyam (aged 18)
- Henry IV (aged 16)
- Vladimir II Monomakh (aged 13)
- Iziaslav I (aged 42)
- Vsevolod I (aged 36)
- Shen Kuo (aged 35)
- Sviatopolk II (aged 16)
- Philip I (aged 14)