Mark Twain came in and went out with Halley's Comet.

1835 · 1910 · apart: 75 years

Born in 1835, two weeks after its pass by the Sun, he predicted he would leave with it — and died in April 1910, the day after its next perihelion.

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The event

• 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.

19th century · 20th century

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