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Edited on Wed Nov-02-11 05:45 PM by Dover
Such as simultaneous eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna. This was followed by extreme cold snaps. The list of natural phenomenon during that period seems as active and rocky as our current activities. ... Of key importance to the events examined here is the fact that in 1783, volcanic gases emitted by the eruption in Iceland were transported to Europe by the prevailing winds, where they caused considerable respiratory distress to susceptible people and damage to crops, trees and fish. Very detailed descriptions of severe acid damage to vegetation, insects, people and property have been left by a number of scientists, of which the recently rediscovered records of two Dutchmen, Brugmans (1787) and Van Swinden (1786), reveal the impacts of the Laki eruption during the summer of 1783. In mainland Europe the volcanic gases were described as a 'dry fog', an 'acid fog' or 'sulphurous fog'. For example, Brugmans (1787) noted: "On many days after the 24th June, in both the town of Groningen and countryside there was a strong, persistent fog...the fog was very dense and accompanied by a very strong smell of sulphur.., many people in the open air experienced an uncomfortable pressure, headaches and experienced a difficulty breathing…".
This account is typical of many that were written at the time. Many crops withered because of the acid deposition but there are no reports on the continent of famine. This is different in northern Scotland where the population was facing hardship because of a harvest failure in 1782, a year before the eruption. The food situation was already poor when acid deposition and ash from the Laki eruption rained down and destroyed crops. Contemporary reports from northern Scotland suggest that many farmers and their families abandoned their farms and 'were forced to beg or perish'. This shows that the effects of the Laki eruption were not the direct cause for famine in Northern Scotland but the last straw which triggered the crisis.
http://www.eh-resources.org/volcanoes.html
LANDMARKS OF WORLD HISTORY A Chronology of Remarkable Natural Phenomena Eighteenth Century 1781-1790 http://www.phenomena.org.uk/page29/page41/page41.html
1781 February 12 England E. coast Gales Coasts strewn with wrecks & dead bodies
1781 February 15 Hampshire, England Aurora 'Strong aurora, very red'
1781 February 27 Hampshire, England Gale 3-hour storm; houses and trees blown down
1781 March 13 England Planet Herschel discovers Uranus
1781 June 20 English Channel Waterspout Whirlwind sank RN cutter
1781 September 25 Hampshire, England Aurora 'Surprising auroras, very red'
1781 October 25 (rep.) Hungary Heat Farmers worked at night. All snow on Carpathians melted
1782 May 1 (reported) Europe Late cold Severe frost, Vienna; great snowfalls, Italy
1782 May 15 Hungary Subsidence Chasm opened in storm; 53 houses swallowed
1782 May 22 Formosa & China Storm surge? Sea rose & drowned 'innumerable' people
1782 May 23 Brusjö Lake, Sweden Earthquake? Lake waters rose in flood after 'loud noise'
1782 May 23 Eastern USA Tornadoes In Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire
1782 August 16 Ireland Flood Great rain flood in Dublin & neighbourhood
1782 September 16 Off Newfoundland Gale West Indian convoy wrecked; over 1,200 drowned
1782 October 15 India ‘Hurricane’ Many ships & boats lost
1782 November 11 St. Pons, France Glazed frost Great tree damage
1782 December Formosa Volcanoes 3 volcanoes erupted, many k. 'Exaggerated'
1782 December Hungary Earthquake Town of Comorn ‘entirely destroyed’
1783 see here Eifel, Germany Volcano Possible ‘minor eruption’, Gliechberg
1783 January Iceland Volcano Submarine eruption off Cape Reikianes
1783 February Calabria, Italy Dry fog Dry fog spread over most of Europe
1783 February 5 Calabria, Italy Earthquake 181 towns wrecked, 30,000 k.
1783 March 26 Greece Earthquake St. Maura; buildings fell, many k.
1783 March 28 Calabria, Italy Earthquake 'Completed destruction'. Shocks till Sept.
1783 April 8 Hungary Earthquake Much building damage, Comorn. Again on April 22
1783 April 26-27 Hampshire, England Aurora “Vivid aurora’
1783 May? Near Iceland Volcano Eruption formed Nyöe ('New Island'}
1783 May 4 England Lunar event? Herschel observes ‘red star’ in lunar crater Aristarchus
1783 May 7 Portugal Earthquakes Many houses thrown down, Oporto & Brague
1783 May 12 - 31 Hungary Earthquakes 19 shocks. Comorn damaged again
1783 May 20 (c.) Iceland Volcano ‘Column of fire’ in mountains N. of Sida
1783 June 1-11 Europe Dry fog ‘Electric fog’ spread over all Europe from Calabria
1783 June 8 Iceland Volcano Great Laki fissure eruption begins
1783 June 13 Cremnitz, Hungary Lightning City struck in 9 places & burnt down; 50 k.
1783 June 14 Iceland Volcano Laki eruption column visible 250 km. distant
1783 June 18 Iceland Volcano Skapta River blocked by Laki lava; great floods
1783 June 23 England, Wales Summer frost Trees & fruit suffered severely
1783 June 25 Iceland Volcano Laki eruption column 12 km. high. Fire-fountains over 1,000 m. high
1783 June 28 England, France Obscuration Sun dull red; 'hot fog' in Paris
1783 July 4 Bohemia & Hungary Lightning 34 persons k. by lightning
1783 July 6 Poland Lightning Houses set afire, Cracow; several k.
1783 July 20 Syria Earthquake Village crushed by rock fall. ‘Dry fog’ in Syria
1783 July 23 (reported) France Thunderstorms Hail destroyed harvest, Lausanne; 14 k, by lightning, Geneva
1783 July 29 Italy Earthquake 4 villages ruined, Calabria
1783 August 2 Canterbury, England Heat 92°F. at noon
1783 August 3 Iceland Volcano Laki lava filled River Hverfisfloit channel
1783 August 3 Orleans, France Thunderstorm Storm ruined crops & tore up trees. Tornado?
1783 August 5 Asama-yama, Japan Volcano Nuee ardente blast k. 1,162
1783 August 18 Europe Meteor Great meteor passed from Shetland to Rome
1783 August 30 England, Holland Thunderstorm Many wrecks on coasts; houses unroofed & people k. by lightning inland
1783 September 9 England Aurora? Cast shadow despite near full Moon
1783 September 29 (reported) Mediterranean Dry fog Thick ‘fog’ in N. Africa & Greek Archipelago
1783 October 25 Iceland Volcano Last major Laki eruptions
1783 November 29 New York, USA Earthquake 'Rather violent' shock, again on 30th
1783 December 9 Cambray, France Earthquake? Meteor explosion? Noise like ‘cannons’ heard, several villages. Chimneys fell
1784 December 14 Holland Fog Fatal accidents, Amsterdam; coaches fell into canals
1783 December 30 Eastern USA Snowstorm 20 inches of snow, New Jersey
1784 January 2 Scotland Blizzard “Hurricane’ of wind & snow, Aberdeen; drifts 18 feet deep
1784 January 9 Guanaxuato, Mexico Earth sounds 'Underground thunder' begins; no earthquake
1784 January 14 & 16 Iceland Earthquake 1,459 houses & 19 churches damaged. Landslides, fissures, rivers changed course
1784 January 18 England Snow ‘Vast snows’ in Cornwall
1784 January 27 USA Severe winter Temp. of minus 18° (F?)at Detroit. 'Long Winter'
1784 February 7 England Snow Snow ‘up to horses’ shoulders’, Norfolk
1784 February 10 USA Severe winter Temp. at Hartford, Connecticut, -12° (F?) or lower, 12 consecutive mornings
1784 March 20 Europe Earthquake Violent shock, Prague. ‘Mountain fell’ in Transylvania, 18th
1784 April 2 Norfolk, England Snow Snowed all afternoon, lying since 23 Dec., ’83
1784 May 8 South Carolina Hailstorm Storm 2 miles wide, stones 9 inches round. Several persons & many animals k.
1784 May 13 Peru Earthquake Cumana & Maquiqua devastated
1784 June 25 (c.) Austria Summer snow Snow fell & vines frozen
1784 July 23 Exinhian, Armenia Earthquake 5,000 k.
1784 July 30 West Indies Hurricane Much damage & many lives lost, Jamaica
1784 August 16 Olavsvik, Iceland Earthquake 30 large farms ruined
1784 August 19 Italy Earthquake ‘Earth agitated for an hour’, Calabria
1785 February 19 (OS) Moscow, Russia Halo complex Halo, parhelic circle, 5 parhelia, & arc
1785 February 19 Bavaria Meteorite 3 Kg stone fell at Eichstadt
1785 June 4 Hampshire, England Halo complex 'Several haloes & mock suns'
1785 October 15 Thuringia Bolide Meteor, explosion & earthquake
1785 October 16 Canada Obscuration Intense darkness & black rain
1785 November 1 Nottingham, England Tornado Became waterspout on R. Trent
1785 November 29 England Tornado Gloucester & Bath
1786 January 4 England Snow Deep snow, intense cold, high wind
1786 February 5 Corfu Earthquake Corfu town ruined, 120 k.
1786 February 7 E. Europe Earthquake Violent shocks, Silesia, Poland, Hungary, Moravia, Bohemia
1786 March 9 Sicily Earthquake Melazzo ruined
1786 July 31 Suffolk Tornado Trees felled, Saxham
1786 August 8 Mt. Blanc, France Mountain Balmat & Paccard make 1st ascent
1786 August 11 N.W. England Earthquake Damage at Whitehaven, Egremont, Workington
1786 September 2 England Ball lightning Fireball seen 40 mins. during 'hurricane'
1786 December 25 Italy Earthquake Rimini, Padua, Florence. Many buildings fell, Rimini
1787 January 7 Hampshire Aurora ‘Strong aurora’
1787 March 14 Acapulco, Mexico Earthquake City ruined, sea retreated. Date April 18?
1787 May 24 Somerset Tornado Houses unroofed, trees uprooted, Wellington
1787 June 7 Hampshire, England Late frost Much crop damage
1787 August 15 Eastern USA Tornadoes 'Swath' 30 miles wide, 145 miles long
1787 August 19 Hampshire, England Aurora 'Vivid aurora'
1787 September Navarre, France Flood Poured from mountains; 2,000 k.
1787 September 11 Edinburgh, Scotland Meteor Fireball rose & burst behind clouds
1787 October 13 Hampshire, Norfolk Aurora 'Very red & aweful'
1787 November 1 Hampshire, Norfolk Aurora 'Broad, red fiery belt'
1787 December 15 Vesuvius & Etna Volcanoes In simultaneous eruption to 24th
1788 May 24-25 Dublin, Ireland Aurora Great aurora; seen in daylight, 25th
1788 June 12 Zamora, Spain Ball lightning? 2 fireballs ‘fought’ for 20 minutes; one then exploded
1788 June 22 Pt. Jackson, Australia Earthquake ‘1st recorded Australian earthquake'
1788 June 28 Suffolk Rain flood ‘Midsummer Flood’; ‘awful torrents’ for hours
1788 July 13 France Hailstorm Paris to Picardy. 1,039 villages damaged
1788 October 12 Lucia, West Indies Earthquake 900 k. 'False or exaggerated'
1788 November 11 Scotland Earthquake Ist Comrie earthquake. Over 1,000 shocks here, 1788-1921
1788 November 25 Paris, France Cold 1st of 50 consecutive frost days (but Dec. 25)
1788 December 18 Neufbrissac, France Cold Temp. of minus 22.4° F.
1788 December 21 Norfolk, England Cold 'Bitter cold with high wind & snow'
1788 December 31 Europe Severe winter -21° C in Paris. ‘One of longest & coldest winters ever known’
1789 January 6 Nice, France Waterspout Off coast. Another on March 19
1789 January 9 London, England Cold Thames froze; frost fair
1789 January 13 Norfolk Cold ‘Bitter, bitter cold...hailed, rained & froze’
1789 January 18 Orleans, France Flood Suburbs & vineyards flooded by Loire
1789 May 8 Denmark Ice Sledges cross frozen Denmark Sound from Bellevue to Copenhagen
1789 May 30 Pennsylvania, USA Tornado '4 miles wide' at Redstone
1789 June 10 Skaholt, Iceland Earthquake Houses thrown down, earth clefts, hot springs
1789 June 25 Northants, England Tornado Path 200 yards wide, 10 miles long
1789 July 27 Feltri, France Ball lightning Exploded in hall, 10 k.
1789 December Coringa, India Cyclone Storm surge k. 20,000
1790 January Pennsylvania, USA Warmth Frequent temps. of 70° F.
1790 March 31 Italy Landslide Mountain Scylla fell into sea; much agitated
1790 April 6 Eastern Europe Earthquake Bannat, Transylvania, etc. to Constantinople
1790 June 18 St. Petersburg, Russia Halo complex One of most complete ever recorded
1790 July 24 Southern France Bolide Meteor larger than Moon burst; meteorites fell. ‘Cottage crushed’; farmer k.
1790 October 8, 9 & 10 Spain & North Africa Earthquake Simultaneous shocks. Great damage, Oran; sea disturbed, Carthagena
1790 November Hawaii Volcano Kilauea erupts. Army of Keoua destroyed
1790 November 27 Lisbon, Portugal Earthquake Much building damage
1790 December 1 North Sea Gale 25 ships lost, 400 bodies washed up, Ostend-Boulogne
1790 December 23 Wales, England, France Storm Storm of lightning, hail & rain. Many houses unroofed
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