LANDMARKS OF WORLD HISTORY
A Chronology of Remarkable Natural Phenomena
19th Century 1811-1820
Numbers show sources
Date
Location
Phenomenon
Description
1811 March 1 (O.S.?)
Konleghowsk, Russia
Meteorite
A 15 lbs. stone fell and penetrated 3 feet through thick ice. (25, 44)
1811 March 26
France
Comet
Flaugergues discovered the Great Comet of 1811. (15)
1811 May 12
Bonsall, Derbyshire
Tornado
“Serpentine cloud’ did great damage on 6-mile long track. (21)
1811 May 14
Scotland
Thunderstorm
Glasgow ‘ravaged’ by 2-hour storm; several persons killed. (43)
1811 June 13
Azores
Volcano
Sabrina Island appeared off the coast of St. Michael. Eroded away by Feb. 1812. (16, 38, 39)
1811 July
Heidelberg
Meteorite
A gelatinous substance fell after a fireball. (20, 23)
1811 July 8
Burgos, Spain
Meteorites
Three stones fell. (25)
1811 September 10
Charleston, South Carolina
Tornado
Great damage, over 500 killed. (41)
1811 October 15
Europe
Comet
The Great Comet’s tail was 26° long and 5° wide, 100,000,000 miles long. (2)
1811 December
North Sea
Gale
Several Royal Navy ships lost, 2,000 drowned. (30)
1811 December 16
Missouri
Earthquake
First New Madrid earthquake; landslides, ground movements, Mississippi disturbed. (60)
1811 December 23
Long Island, United States
Blizzard
Snowstorm and gale wrecked about 60 vessels. (32)
1812
Phillipines
Volcano
Mayon erupts; several towns destroyed, 12,000 killed. (39)
1812 January 10
London
Obscuration
‘Impenetrable darkness’ from high smoke fog. (70)
1812 February 7
Missouri
Earthquake
Strongest New Madrid earthquake. Felt in Washington and Pennsylvania. Ground movements, Mississippi disturbed. (61)
1812 February 25
Plymouth, England
Thunderstorm
Masts of Tonnant shattered by lightning; 24 injured. 3 men on other vessels killed.
1812 March 26
Venezuela
Earthquake
Caracas overthrown, 20,000 killed. (38, 41)
1812 April 10
France
Meteorites
Shower of stones in the Haute Garonne after detonating fireball. (25)
1812 April 15
Prussia
Meteorite
Large stone fell near Magdeburg after detonations. (25)
1812 April 27
St. Vincent, West Indies
Volcano
La Soufriere erupts. See here (33)
1812 June 27
Ohio
Tornado
A tornado half a mile wide caused great destruction. Ice-covered branches fell. (31)
1812 August 5
France
Meteorite
A 31 kg stone fell at Chantonnay after a fireball. (25)
1812 September 5
Russia
Meteorite
A stone meteorite fell before the Battle of Borodino. (25)
1812 December
Denmark
Cold winter
Sledges crossed ice from Sweden to Copenhagen. (27)
1813 March 13
Italy
Fall
Reddish-yellow hail fell at Arezzo. (18)
1813 March 14
Italy
Meteorite?
Stones and ‘yellow dust’ fell after ‘loud noises’ in sky. A red cloud followed by a fall of reddish rain at Gerace. (20, 71)
1813 March 21
Connecticut, United States
Bolide
Detonating meteor fireball the size of the Moon. (23)
1813 March 22
London
Meteor
Brilliant meteor half the size of the Moon. (58)
1813 April
Damascus, Syria
Anomalous phenomenon
‘Pillar of fire’ seen in E. 3 days and nights; ‘light sufficient for seeing any object’. Nile rose 2 months early. (64)
1813 April 13
Catalonia
Lightning
Ship Repulse struck by lightning; 8 killed, 9 injured.
1813 August or September
England
Meteorites?
Many stones said to have fallen at Malpas, Cheshire. (23, 25)
1813 September 10
Ireland
Meteorites
Shower of stones fell at Adare, Limerick. See here (49)
1813 December 27
London
Glazed frost
Freezing fog and rime to January 2. (2, 7)
1814
Hungary
Meteorite
A 133 lbs. stone fell in the Saros country. (63)
1814 January 24
Scotland
Cold winter
Solway Firth frozen solid. (29)
1814 January 31
London
Cold winter
Thames frozen until February 5; a Frost Fair. (29)
1814 February 15
Ukraine
Meteorite
An 18 kg stone fell at Bachmut. (25)
1814 April
Cheltenham, England
Ball lightning
Fiery globe fell from clouds and destroyed a mill. (67)
1814 April 17
Ireland
Aurora
Dublin illuminated by aurora ‘as if (by) moonlight’. (45)
1814 May 10
Russia
Mud volcano
An island emitting flames and stones rose from the sea near Alterazruk. (46)
1814 June 4
United States
Tornadoes
Tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky; about 17 killed. (31)
1814 July 1
South Carolina
Tornado
A waterspout sank a schooner; 25 drowned. Thousands of trees uprooted on shore. (22)
1814 July 3
St Laurence River
Fall
Ashes fell, with a strong smell in the air. (10, 46)
1814 August
France
Fall
Small frogs fell in a storm at Fremon. (46)
1814 August 25
United States
Tornado
Washington burnt by the British and badly damaged by a tornado. (31)
1814 September 5
France
Meteorites
A shower of stones fell at Agen after detonations. (12, 25)
1814 October 27
Italy
Fall
‘Red-brick dust’ fell in Piedmont. (20)
1814 November 5
India
Meteorites
19 stones fell at Chail after detonating meteor. (54)
1815 January 11
Rhenish Provinces
Lightning
Lightning struck the steeples of 12 churches. Some set on fire, all considerably damaged. (68)
1815 January 30
New York
Cold winter
New York City icebound. (32)
1815 February 18
India
Meteorite
A 29 lbs. stone fell at Durala and created a crater. (3, 25)
1815 April 5
East Indies
Volcano
Enormous eruption of Tambora; cone reduced from 13,000 feet to 9,300 feet; caldera 3 miles wide; 10,000 killed. (36, 59)
1815 May 14
Malacca
Bolide
Detonating meteor as large as Moon. Year may be 1849. (23)
1815 September 23
New England
Hurricane
“Great September Gale’. (62, 64)
1815 October 3
France
Meteorite
Stone fragments fell at Chassigny after rumblings. Total 4 kg. (25, 53)
1816 January
Hungary
Fall
Brown and flesh-coloured snow fell in 2-day blizzard. (17)
1816 January 30
Ireland
Gale
3 transport ships ran aground in gale; 1,000 drowned.
1816 February 24
Atlantic Ocean
Earthquake
Severe shock for 4 minutes, 36° N., 28° W. (34)
1816 spring - summer
New York
Dry fog
A ‘smoking vapour’ or dry haze. (56)
1816 April and May
Maryland, United States
Fall
Brown, bluish, and red snow fell.
1816 May 9
New England
Sunspots
Naked-eye sunspots seen for several days, May 9 and June 11. (66)
1816 June 6
United States
Snow
Snow fell from dawn to afternoon, Vermont; snow 6 inches deep in New England and a foot deep in Quebec. ‘The Year without a Summer’. (19, 26, 59)
1816 July 5
Maine
Cold
Ice ‘as thick as window-glass’. (59)
1816 July 9
Maine
Cold
Corn killed by frost. A morning temperature of 33° F. at Brunswick. (59)
1816 August 13
Scotland
Earthquake
Almost all of Scotland shaken. Much damage at Inverness. (11)
1816 August 21
United States
Cold
A frost killed, corn, potatoes beans, etc., in New Hampshire and Maine. (59)1
1816 September 2
England
Early snow
Heavy snow in Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire.
1816 October 10
England
Sunspots
‘Great spots…upon the sun’. (5)
1817
Arctic Ocean
Ice
1,000s of square miles of sea ice north of Iceland suddenly broke up and scattered over the North Atlantic. (38)
1817 February 24
United States
Blizzard
Snow 14 inches deep in New Hampshire. (32)
1817 June 21
England
Heat
Shade temperature of 103° F., Gloucester, 112° F., Weymouth. Thunderstorms and floods in Wiltshire. (69)
1817 June 27
Kentish Town, London
Tornado
Funnel seen. Loaded wagon carried 20 yards. (47)
1817 June 30
Scotland
Earthquake and fall
Hot water fell from the sky during a shock near Inverness. (24)
1817 July 23
England
Sunspot
‘Great spot or crevice’ on Sun, July 23 to August 4. (47)
1817 December 8
Ipswich, England
Bolide
Meteor as bright as Sun; rumbling noise followed. (47)
1818 January 12
New Orleans
Snow
Snow an inch deep after storm. (32)
1818 February 3
Ohio Valley, United States
Blizzard
12-hour storm left 26 inches of level snow. (32)
1818 February 23
Europe
Gale
Storm over most of Europe; accompanied by earthquakes in Italy. (50)
1818 March 3
Natchez, Mississippi
Snow
Snowfall for several hours. (32)
1818 March 4
England
Gale
“Tremendous gale throughout England’; many houses fell,
in London. (1, 4)
1818 April 11
Ukraine
Meteorite
A 4 kg stone fell at Zaborzika. (25)
1818 April 26
Black Sea
Mud volcano
A new mud volcano burst out at Prekla. (13)
1818 April 26
Hertfordshire
Tornado
A white whirling cone uprooted many trees and unroofed houses. (35)
1818 June
Macedonia
Meteorite
A 15 lbs. stone fell at Seres. (25)
1818 June 15
Geneva
Glacier flood
Bursting of ice-dammed lake flooded the valley of the river Dranse. (2, 38)
1818 July 24
Scotland
Hailstorm
A hailstorm in the Orkney Islands, path 20 miles long. 9 inches of hail fell. (2)
1818 August 10
Russia
Meteorite
A 7 lbs. stone fell at Smolensk. (23)
1818 August 15
United States
Tornado
A tornado from Virginia to Maryland sank boats on the Potomac. About 30 killed. (22)
1819 April 3
Chile
Earthquakes
City of Copiapo destroyed by shocks on 3rd, 4th and 11th April. (51)
1819 June 13
France
Meteorites
A shower of stones fell at Jonzac after a detonating fireball. (25)
1819 June 16
India
Earthquake
Strong shock with earth disturbances and sea waves, Kutch. 1,543 killed. (6)
1819 June 26
Germany
Comet
Great comet transited the Sun; possibly observed by Pastoroff and Stark. (8)
1819 July 4
France
Hailstorm
‘Dreadful hailstorm’, Bacconniere, spherical stones 15 inches round. (55)
1819 July 11
Basses-Alpes, France
Lightning
Lightning struck the church of Chateauneuf-les-Moutiers. 9 persons killed, 82 injured. (68)
1819 July - August
America, Europe
Comet
Great comet circumpolar in northern hemisphere. (57)
1819 August 13
Massachusetts
Fall
A ‘pulpy substance’ fell with a brilliant light, Amhurst
1819 September 5
Studein, Moravia
Fall
‘Little pieces of earth’ fell from a small bright cloud. Carbonaceous chondrites? (70)
1819 October 12 or 13
Russia
Meteorites
Three stones of over 7 lbs. fell at Politz. (23)
1819 November 8 - 10
Canada
Obscuration
Day darkness and sooty rain fell at Montreal. (10, 20)
1820 January 9
Scotland
Anticyclone
A barometer reading of 31.056 inches at Kinfauns. (37)
1820 January 10 -15
Europe
Winter cold
Intense cold from England to Italy; -10° F. in Kent on 15th. (2, 28)
1820 February 12
Vienna
‘Vulcan’
Circular body passed across the Sun in 5 hours. (9)
1820 May 2
Mexico
Earthquake
Acapulco wrecked by earthquake. Sea retreated and returned gently 2 hours later. (65)
1820 May 21
Hungary
Meteorite
A quarter-pound stone smelling of sulphur fell at Oedenburg. (23)
1820 June 9
United States
Tornado
Tornado in Rockland Co., New York; hail 18 inches deep.
1820 June 29
Ireland
Hailstorm
Thunder and hailstorm left Ballyhannes, Co. Mayo, ‘a perfect ruin’. (52)
1820 July 12
Russia
Meteorites
Several stones, weight about 40 lbs. fell at Lixna. (23)
1820 September 8
Crimea
Tornado
A tornado passed across Sevastopol in 8 minutes; buildings and boats destroyed. (40)
1820 November
Antarctica
Exploration
Nathaniel Palmer sighted the mainland of Antarctica. (14)
1820 December 30 (or November 29)
Ionian Islands
Earthquake
Fireball over sea 3 minutes before earthquake. (23)
