The same Halley's Comet embroidered on the Bayeux Tapestry in 1066 returned in 1910 — when the Earth even passed through its tail.
The events
- Halley's Comet over England1066 · England. 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.
- Earth passes through Halley's Comet's tail1910 · Paris. In May 1910 Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet. Press reports of astronomer Camille Flammarion's remarks about poisonous cyanogen in the tail caused panic, and hucksters sold 'comet pills' and gas masks. Nothing happened.
More amazing facts
- 987 · 988 Rus was baptised in 988, a year after Hugh Capet became King of France.
- 988 · 1021 Thirty-three years after the Christianization of Rus', Vikings were cutting wood in Newfoundland — tree rings date it precisely to 1021.
- 1014 · 1016 While Basil II was finishing off Bulgaria at Kleidion (1014), Rus' was getting its first law code, the Russkaya Pravda (1016).
- 1054 In July 1054, Chinese astronomers saw a new star; 12 days later came the schism in Constantinople.
- 1096 · 1325 Oxford University is older than the Aztec state: teaching at Oxford existed by about 1096, while Tenochtitlan was founded only in 1325.
- 1096 · 1147 Moscow is first mentioned in a chronicle in 1147.