LANDMARKS OF WORLD HISTORY
A Chronology of Remarkable Natural Phenomena
Eighteenth Century 1701-1740

Numbers show sources

Date
Location
Phenomenon
Description
1702
Iceland
Glacier advance
Vatnajökull glacier covered summer pasture. (41)

1702 February 28
Gulf of Bengal
Comet
Tail 43 degrees long. (4)

1702 March 5 - 24
Hertfordshire, England
Spring warmth
‘Heat as in July’, wind E.N.E. (75)

1703
Switzerland
Glacier advance
Grindelwald glacier covered meadows. (41)

1703 January 14
Italy
Earthquake
Rome, Naple, Aquila. “Very violent’. (44)

1703 February 2
Aquila, Italy
Earthquake
5,000 killed. (44)

1703 February 5
Frederickstadt, Norway
Subsidence
¼ mile area sank into abyss 100 fathoms deep. 14 persons and 400 cattle killed. (27)

1703 November 26
England
Gale
The Great Storm. 8,000 drowned at sea. (38)

1703 December 30
Edo, Japan
Earthquake
200,000 killed. (44)

1704 January 20
Cornwall
Gale
Storm of lightning and hail drove back King of Spain’s fleet, 11 ships wrecked on Isle of Wight. (75)

1704 November 4
Zurich, Switzerland
Earthquake
Preceded by brilliant meteor. (44)

1705
England
Solar flare?
A 'flash' on the Sun. (10)

1705 December 29
France, Ireland
Gale and sea flood
Tides in Loire rose 25 feet, 118 ships went ashore. ‘Half of Limerick was drowned’. (75)


1706 April 10
Iceland
Earthquake
‘Tremendous earthquakes’ destroyed 24 farms. (32)

1706 May 6
Tenerife
Volcano
Garachio destroyed. Sea waves. (46)

1706 May 12
Europe
Solar eclipse
Corona as 'white crown', 4 or 5° diameter. (9, 13, 35)

1706 June 7
Greece
Meteorite
17 lb. stone fell at Larissa. (33)

1706 July 16
Wales
Flood
30 hours’ rain, Denbigh. All rivers in Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire overflowed. (5)

1706 September 29 (or October 30)
Sicily
Earthquake
1,000 persons killed. (44)

1706 November 3
Naples, Italy
Earthquake
15,000 persons killed. (44)

1707 June 16
Santorin
Volcano
Eruption formed island. (58)

1707 July 8
England
Heat
‘Divers persons died'. 'Hot Tuesday’. (5)

1707 July 28
Vesuvius
Volcano
'Pine-tree' ash cloud. (36)

1707 October 28
Shikoku, Japan
Earthquake
4,900 killed. Tsunami.

1707 December 16
Fuji, Japan
Volcano
Ash 6 inches deep in Edo, 70 miles away. (59)

1708 June12
England
Summer cold
A hoar frost. (5)

1708 August 14
Manosque, Toulon, Marseilles, etc.
Earthquake & tornadoes
‘A violent shock’. Flames from the earth. 2 ‘whirlwinds’ did great damage at Manosque. (44)

1708 October
Europe
Severe winter
To March 1708. (15)

1709 February 5
Rumania
Aurora?
Two ‘columns of fire’ in E. and W. (34)

1709 August 11
Danzig
Miasma
During an epidemic, a blackish-yellow ‘stinking mist’ moved over the town. (75)

1711
Awu, Celebes
Volcano
Mudflows killed 3,177.

1712
Bosely, Shropshire
Earthquake
An earthquake, with outbursts of water and ‘inflamed vapours’. (44)

1712 February 9
England
Lunar halo complex
Circumzenithal and circumhorizontal circles, 5 paraselenae. (75)

1713
Carlsbad, Bohemia
Flood
Hot springs burst out and flooded into River Tepel. (49)

1713 April 27
England?
Tornado? and hail
“Whirlwind and hail”; worms and beetles found inside hailstones. (75)

1715 February
Ruden, Norway
Blizzard
7,000 Swedish soldiers froze to death. (26)

1715 April 11
Pomerania
Meteorite
15 lbs. stone fell at Schellin. (30)

1715 April 22
England
Solar eclipse
Halley observed corona, white ring and fainter rays.

1716
L'vov, Ukraine
Coloured rain
Red rain from red cloud. (50)

1716 January 22
Europe
Cold winter
-4° F. in Paris. Frost fair,London. (2)

1716 March 6
Europe
Aurora
'Greatest since 1574'. Observed by Halley. (2, 17)

1716 May & June
Algiers
Earthquake
20,000 killed. (44)

1716 September 2
Cantal
Ball lightning
‘Multiplicity of fireballs’ in cloud layer below mountain. (18)

1716 October 21
New England
Obscuration
Darkness at mid-day. (14)

1717 February 18
New England
Blizzard
A snowstorm continuing until the 22nd left snow 10 to 15 feet on the level; drifts 20 feet deep. (74)

1717 December 24
North Sea coast
Sea flood
Germany, Holland, 11,000 drowned. (42)

1718 January 17
Switzerland
Avalanche
Powder-snow fall killed 55 at Leukerbad. (19)

1718? March 24
Lethy Island., East Indies
Meteor?
Fiery mass fell and exploded, silver scaly jelly found. (30)

1718 April 14 - 15
Brittany, France
Ball lightning
Three large globes of fire destroyed a church at Couesnon. 24 churches struck by lightning between Landerneau and St. Pol. de Leon.(76, 78)

1718 December 10
Cyprus
Earthquake
Many lives lost. (44)

1719 March 6
Portugal, Constantinople
Earthquake
Shock lasted 4 minutes in Portugal. Shocks for 30 days in Constantinople, many persons killed. (44)

1719 March 19
S. England
Meteor
70 miles over Channel, 30 explosions. See here (5, 11, 30)

1719 April 6
Atlantic Ocean
Fall
‘Ferruginous rain’ for 9 hours. (48, 52)

1719 May
N.W. Germany
Drought
No rain from May to October.

1719 May 25
Turkey
Earthquake
Constantinople greatly damaged. 1,000 killed. (44)

1719 July
North Africa
Earthquake
Many villages ruined. (15)

1719 July
North China
Earthquake
‘Vast numbers of people buried’. (15)

1719 August
England
Heat and drought
May, June, July and August; ‘such a summer for heat hardly known’. (39)

1719 December 11
China, New England
Aurora
‘Blood-red flame’. (17)

1720
Norway
Glacier advance
Farm and harvests destroyed. (41)

1720 November 12
Azores
Volcano
Submarine eruption formed island. (3)

1720 November 25
England
Aurora
'Great lights' over Bristol. (3)

1721 February 14
Switzerland
Ball lightning?
2 globes of fire fell on successive nights. (3)

1721 April 26
Persia
Earthquake
Tabriz ruined, 8,000 killed. (44)

1721 May 11
Iceland
Volcano
Katla erupted. Glacier-burst. Ash fell over the whole of Iceland. (7)

1721 October
Brunswick
Fall
’Shower of fire’ on city could not be extinguished by water. (52)

1722 August 28
Jamaica
Hurricane
Whole island devastated, 400 killed. (2)

1722 October 3
Europe and America
Aurora
Seen Paris, Berlin, New York &c. (17)

1722 December 27
Portugal
Earthquake
All south coast. Sea agitated. “Great destruction’. (7, 44)

1723 June (or July) 22
Bohemia
Meteorites
33 stones fell, Plescowitz. Great noise. (30, 54)

1723 July 20
Enfournet, France
Thunderstorm
1 hour storm of wind and rain ravaged district. (2)

1724 May 17
Iceland
Volcano
Krafla erupted. Lake Myvatn almost boiled dry. Countryside laid waste. Several other Icelandic volcanoes erupted about this time. (7)

1725 July 3
Oxfordshire
Meteorite
20 lb. stone fell at Mixbury. (30, 33)

1725 October 22
At sea near Petapako.
Meteor
Meteor and great detonations. (30)

1726 February 6 to 8
Sicily
Earthquake
Eastern side of island. 3,000 persons killed. (44)

1726 September 1
Palermo, Italy
Earthquake
6,000 killed. Shocks lasted 25 minutes. (44)

1726 October 8
S. England
Aurora
All parts of sky. Corona at zenith. (2)

1727 July 19
England
Earthquake
'All over England’. (31)

1727 August 3
Iceland
Volcano
Oraefajokull erupted. 3 days’ darkness. Glacier-burst. Several other Icelandic volcanoes erupted about this time. (7, 32, 56)

1727 October 29
Eastern America
Earthquake
Shock felt from New York to the Gulf of Mexico. (74)

1727 November 18
Tabriz, Persia
Earthquake
77,000 killed. (44)

1728 September 19
Germany
Cold winter
All rivers froze. Till March 1729. (57)

1728 November 28
Phillipines
Earthquake
Great devastation in Manilla. (44)

1729
Europe
Comet
Perihelion distance of Jupiter's orbit. Visible to naked eye 6 months.

1729 January 30
Iceland
Volcano
Leirhnjukur erupted. Lava flows destroyed grasslands. (7)

1729 May 20
Sussex
Tornado
1,000s of trees fell, track 12 miles long. See here (12)

1729 November
New England
Aurora
‘Very bright’. (17)

1730 July 8
St. Jago, Chile
Earthquake
City wrecked. 'Inundation’. (20)

1730 September 1
Lanzarote, Canary Is.
Volcano
Great fissure eruption began, lasted to 1736. W. quarter of island lost to lava. (6, 40)

1731 March
West Indies
Drought
Barbados and Leeward Islands. (21)

1731 March 22 (reported)
Tenerife
Storm
‘Incredible damage’. (21)

1731 April 17
Foggia, Italy
Earthquake
50 shocks during day. 3,600 persons killed. (44)

1731 June 3
Lessay, near Constance
“Electric rain’
During a thunderstorm, rain fell ‘like drops of red-hot liquid metal’. (77)

1731 June 4
Lanzarote
Volcano
New cone produced lava-flow which rushed to the sea. (55)

1731 November 30
Peking, China
Earthquake
100,000 killed. (44)

1731 December 9
Florence, Italy
Earthquake
Luminous cloud moved rapidly E to W. (44)

1732 February 25
Mexico
Earthquake
Acapulco wrecked by earthquake; sea rose and receded several times. (73)

1732 May 1
Scotland
Late snow
Great snow in Edinburgh. (24)

1732 September 6
Canada
Earthquake
7 killed in Montreal. Also felt in Pennsylvania and Maryland. (44)

1732 October (reported)
Spain
Lightning
Escurial set on fire by lightning. (25)

1732 October (reported)
Franconia
Floods
Buildings washed away, many drowned. (25)

1732 October (reported)
Compost-Major (Comporta?) Portugal
Lightning
Powder magazine exploded after lightning strike and wrecked city; hundreds killed. (25)

1732 November 29
Italy
Earthquake
Centre near Vesuvius. Ariano and Laurino wrecked, 1,940 killed. (44)

1732 December
Prague,Bohemia
Forest fire?
Flames in the mountains. Continued into Jan. (23)

1732 December 23
Yorkshire
Tornado
38 buildings wrecked. (37)

1733 March
Moscow
Cold
100 froze to death. (29)

1733 June 14?
Annapolis Royal
Obscuration
Strange darkness, no fog or dark clouds. Candles lit at noon. (28)

1734 August
Iceland
Earthquake
100 houses and 5 churches fell. Note this earthquake was not, as has been said, in Ireland.

1734 November 5
England, France
Earthquake
Portsmouth, Chichester, etc. Also at Le Havre. “All moveables much shaken’ (44)

1735 January 6
Siberia
Cold
'120 below 0 F.' at Kirenginiki. (53)

1735 January 8
England
Gale
‘Most violent since 1703’ (60)

1735 September 15
Scotland
Hailstorm
Most unreaped corn in Ayrshire destroyed. Hail up to 2 feet deep. (61)

1736 February 21
E. England
Sea flood
1,000s of cattle drowned. (62)

1736 April 16
Lanzarote
Volcano
Eruptions end. 77 square miles covered by lava. 26 villages destroyed, no lives lost. (6, 55)

1736 April 30
Ochil, Scotland
Earthquake
Several houses 'rent'. Again May 1. (16)

1736 summer
Finland
Heat and fires
Smoke reached Moscow. (62)

1736 July 5
England
Floods
All low meadows flooded. Heavy rain. (62)

1736 September 14
Constantinople
Anomaly
Comet-like 'star' in thick cloud, 2 pm, for 35 minutes. (63)

1737 March 1
England
Sunspot
'Great spot on the sun’. Seen during eclipse. (13, 64)

1737 March 5
Smyrna, Turkey
Earthquake
'Swallowed up half' city and 3 fortresses. (65)

1737 May 11
Swabia
Earthquake
'Aurora' in cloudy sky. Many shocks. (44)

1737 May 14
Italy
Volcano
Vesuvius erupted. Great explosion and lava flow 19th. (36)

1737 May 28
England
Occultation
Venus concealed Mercury. Only known observation of a mutual planetary occultation, by John Bevis. (66)

1737 September 3
England
Aurora
Aurora ‘like a crown’ with streamers, Sheffield. (67)

1737 September 9
St. Domingo
Hurricane
Town of St. Louis ‘entirely levelled’. (68)

1737 October 6
Kamchatka
Earthquake
Great uplift, chasms and sea wave 210 ft. high. (44)

1737 October 11 (NS)
Bay of Bengal
Typhoon
'300,000 killed’ - doubtful. (69)

1737 October 11
Calcutta
Earthquake
'300,000 killed’.. Confusion?

1737 October 18
France
Earthquake? Meteor?
At Carpentras.
Rain of earth followed. More explosion-like than earthquake. Year 1738? (44)

1737 December 5
Sheffield, England
Aurora
“Deep red cloud and luminous body’. Air became hot. (67)

1737 December 5
Ireland
Bolide?
Explosion shook island, sky on fire. A great red aurora on the same night. See here (67, 75)

1737 December 7
North America
Earthquake
Boston and New York. Some chimneys fell. (44)

1737 December 30
Greek Islands
Meteor?
'Great fiery cloud' moved N. to S. Location also given as Chile. (44, 70)

1738 July 13
Paris
Meteor
Rose and fell by bounds. (30)

1738 August 29
W. England
Meteor
Daylight fireball, explosion. (67)

1738 October 18
France
Meteorites
Many stones fell, Carpentras. Same as 1737 earthquake? (33)

1739 January 14
Scotland
Gale
Great damage, Glasgow and Edinburgh. (71)

1739 September 29
Denmark
Cold
Wolves crossed ice. To May 1740. (72)

1739 October 22
England
Aurora? Meteor?
‘Frightful fiery dragon’ seen over all England. Cloudy. (67)

1739 December 25
England
Severe winter
‘Great frost’ began. N’ly winds almost constant till summer 1740. (15, 57)

1740
Europe
Severe winter
Snow 10 feet deep in Spain & Portugal. Zuider Zee frozen. (48)

1740 January 11
England
Cold
Bitter E'ly gale, 20° F, Plymouth. (45)

1740 February 23
Toulon, France
Meteor
Fireball fell into sea. Explosion. (30)