LANDMARKS OF WORLD HISTORY
A Chronology of Remarkable Natural Phenomena
19th Century 1821-1830
Numbers show sources
Date
Location
Phenomenon
Description
1821 February 4
England
Lunar event?
Kater observed a lunar ‘volcano’ telescopically. (35)
1821 February 5
Unknown
Lunar event?
Olbers telescopically observed a star-like light in the lunar crater Aristarchus. (7)
1821 February 7
Antarctica
Exploration
The crew of the Cecilia set foot on the Antarctic continent in Graham Land. (17)
1821 February 15
Arctic
Aurora?
An aurora seen below a dense cloud layer.
1821 March 22
France
Anomalous phenomenon
A ‘column of fire’ passed over Fiume de Canera during an earthquake.
1821 May 21
London
Late snow
Sleet or snow fell in the London area.
1821 May 26
Wiltshire, England
Graupel?
‘Snow and hail’ fell over 5 inches deep. (2)
1821 June 15
France
Meteorite
A 200 lbs. stone fell at Juvinas after a detonating fireball. (19)
1821 June 25
Ireland
Earthquake
‘Numerous and violent’ shocks at Cork. (10)
1821 August 18
Europe
Obscuration
A dry fog in Europe for 12 days; Sun appeared blue. (9)
1821 September 1
Gloucestershire
Fall
A ’storm of snails’ fell.
1821 September 1 - 4
Eastern United States
Hurricane
Great damage in New York. (41, 44)
1821 September 9
United States and Canada
Tornadoes
Tornadoes in Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York. (26)
1821 December 20
Hampshire, England
Tornado
A tornado in a thunderstorm at Alresford; many trees uprooted and buildings damaged. (24)
1821 December 25
London
Meteorological event
Luka Howard recorded a barometer reading of 945.8 millibars. (6)
1822 March 9
United States and Canada
Bolide
Meteor fireball as bright as the Moon seen from Quebec, Montreal, Boston, etc. Two explosions shook houses. (25)
1822 March 20
Adriatic
Sounds
Detonations heard all day in the island of Melida; continued for 30 days. (12)
1822 April
Asseerghur, India.
Meteorites
Meteor and shower of stones. (57)
1822 April 10
India
Hail
Pumpkin-sized hailstones killed many cattle, Bangalore. (55)
1822 May 7
Germany
Hail
13-ounce hailstones fell in Bonn. (30)
1822 June
Mouth of the Ganges
Tropical revolving storm
Storm moving at 2 m.p.h.; flood drowned 50,000 persons.
1822 June 12
Somerset, England
Tornado
A tornado in a thunderstorm uprooted trees and damaged buildings. (15)
1822 July 6
Assonval, France
Tornado
A destructive tornado emitted globes of fire and vapour. (11)
1822 July 18
Lincolnshire, England
Tornado
‘Vast column’ carried 4-horse roller 20 yards. (14)
1822 August
France
Fall
A heavy shower of toads near Poitiers during rain. (8)
1822 August 13
Syria
Earthquake
60 per cent of Aleppo destroyed. Sea wave at Iskendrun. (39)
1822 September 5
Syria
Earthquake
Shock destroyed the remains of Aleppo; 20,000 killed. (39)
1822 September 13
France
Meteorite
A stone the size of a cannon-ball fell at Epinal after detonations, during a thunderstorm. (19)
1822 October 8
Java
Volcano
Galung Gung eruption; 2nd more violent on October 12. Caldera formed. (27)
1822 October 22
Italy
Volcano
Eruption of Vesuvius. A stone of several tons thrown 5 kilometres. (23, 40)
1822 November 12
Potsdam
Meteor shower
’Shooting stars mingled with balls of fire’. (18)
1822 November 20
Chile
Earthquake
Shock destroyed many towns; 10,000 killed. (1, 32)
1822 December 1
West Indies
Earthquake
Great damage to buildings in Grenada; more shocks on the 20th. (36)
1823 January 11
Northumberland and Durham
Snow
Snowstorm ‘lasted six weeks’; drifts as high as a two-storey house; mail-coaches buried. (50)
1823 January 26
London
Cold winter
End of 16-day continuous frost, Greenwich.
1823 February 23
Antarctica
Ice
Weddell reached 74° 15’ S., 34° 17’ W. Only three icebergs in sight. (45)
1823 June 21
Wiltshire, England
Late cold
A hard frost destroyed crops. (2)
1823 August 7
United States
Meteorites
Two stones, weight 16 lbs., fell at Nobleboro’, Maine. (16)
1823 August 26
France
Tornado
A tornado destroyed 800 trees and half of Marchepoy village. (8)
1823 September 16
Italy
Tornado
‘A whirlwind of black vapour mixed with fire’ did much damage in the Quigliano district.
1823 October 31
Wiltshire, England
Early snow
Heavy snow broke thousands of trees. (2)
1824 January 15
Italy
Meteorite
3 stone fragments, weight over 12 lbs., fell at Renazzo after a fireball. (16)
1824 February 18
Siberia
Meteorite
A 2 kilogramme stone fell at Tounkin after detonations. (19)
1824 August
Canary Islands
Volcano
Craters erupted along a rift line near Rescif. (5, 37)
1824 September 13
Melrose, Scotland
Obscuration
Sun was ‘a fine salmon colour’ for many hours; Moon had same appearance. (52)
1824 October 14
Czechoslovakia
Meteorite
A 2 kg. stone fell at Praskolesky after detonations. (19)
1824 October 20
Unknown
Lunar event?
Gruithuisen telescopically observed an intermittently flashing light on the dark part of the Moon. (12)
1824 November 19
Russia
Flood
Baltic Sea and the River Neva submerged St. Petersburg. (20)
1825 January 16
India
Meteorite
A meteorite fell at Oriang, killing a man and injuring a woman. (16, 19)
1825 February 10
Maryland, United States
Meteorite
A stone of over 16 lbs. fell at Nanjemoy after a detonation. (19)
1825 May 12
Wiltshire, England
Meteorite
An iron meteorite said to have fallen at Baydon. (16)
1825 May 18
United States
Tornadoes
Tornado outbreak in Ohio. A tornado up to a mile wide was said to have travelled 400 miles from Indiana to Pennsylvania. (26)
1825 July 5
Spain
Meteorites or hailstones
“An abundant shower of stones’, weighing up to a pound, at Torrecillas dal Campo injured men and cattle. (16)
1825 July 25 -27
West Indies
Hurricane
The ‘Santa Anna’ hurricane. In Puerto Rico about 7,000 houses were destroyed and 374 killed. (41)
1825 September 20
West Indies
Earthquake
A shock caused widespread damage in Trinidad. (36)
1825 September 27
Hawaii
Meteorites
Several stones, two of 3 lbs., fell at Honolulu. (19)
1825 November
France
Tornado
Carcassone struck by a tornado. (30)
1825 November 3
France
Anomalous phenomenon
During a thunderstorm a ‘cloud of fire’ enveloped the forest of Calenhoven for 15 minutes. (47)
1826
India
Fall
An ice mass nearly a cubic yard in size fell at Khandeish. It took several days to melt. (8, 38))
1826
United States
Meteorites?
Several persons killed by a fall of stones. (16)
1826 March 5
Scotland
Blizzard
A snowstorm with undrifted snow 5 feet deep.
1826 April 12
-
Lunar event
‘Black moving haze or cloud’ in lunar Mare Crisium (telescopic).
1826 May 19
Ukraine
Meteorite
An 88 lbs. stone fell at Pavlograd. (19)
1826 July 3
Wiltshire, England
Ball lightning
Two women killed by a rolling blue fireball, Malvern Hills. (42, 43)
1826 August
France
Meteorite?
A large stone fell in a thunderstorm on Mount Galapian. (16, 19)
1826 August 26
France
Tornado
A ‘reddish column’ did much damage in Carcassone; 1 killed. (30, 48)
1826 November 6
Tenerife
‘Cloudburst’
Storm rain made excavations 600 paces round and 30 feet deep. (56)
1826 November 18
Unknown
Comet
A comet observed to transit the Sun, 2,000,000 miles from solar surface. (49)
1827 February 16 or 27
India
Meteorites
Several stones, largest 3 lbs., fell at Mhow after detonations. One broke a tree and another injured a man. (16, 19)
1827 March 5
Kotah, India
Hailstorm
Fist-sized hailstones killed men and livestock. (55)
1827 April
Fall
Near Mount Ararat
A shower of lichens lay 6 inches deep. (56)
1827 May 9
Tennessee
Meteorites
Five stones, largest over 11 lbs., fell at Drake Creek after detonations. (19)
1827 June 27
Mediterranean
Tornadoes
A huge waterspout swarm near Stromboli. (46)
1827 July 13
Germany
‘Cloudburst’
Two ‘waterspouts’ fell in the Glotz mountains; many drowned.
1827 August 17 - 28
West Indies
Hurricane
A hurricane devastated St. Kitts. (41)
1827 August 26
Austria
Lightning
2 killed in convent of Admont by lightning from a cloud 8 metres thick and 28 metres above ground. (18)
1827 September 25
Europe, United States
An aurora seen from Belgium, Switzerland, England, Denmark, Sweden and Brunswick (USA). “Light reached to the zenith” at Ostend. (53)
1827 October 5 or 8
Poland
Meteorites
A shower of stones at Bialystok, following 6 minutes of ‘extraordinary noise’ from a black cloud. (19, 33)
1827 October 17
Russia
Fall
A ‘prodigious’ fall of black living insects in a snow shower, Rjev district. (51)
1827 November 27
Caspian Sea
Mud volcano
A mud volcano near Baku sent a column of flame to a great height for 3 hours. (3)
1828 January
Near New Caledonia
Volcano
Eruption of Matthew’s Rock.
1828 March 9
United States
Earthquake
An earthquake shook 190,000 square miles of the Eastern United States from Pennsylvania to South Carolina. (28)
1828 May 28
Germany
Fall
A fish fall at Kratzburg.
1828 June 4
Virginia, United States
Meteorite
A 4 lbs. stone fell at Richmond. (16)
1828 September 7
Yorkshire, England
Bolide
A meteor the size of the Moon and as bright as the Sun seen from Horton. (16)
1828 December 18
Japan
Earthquake
A shock in Echigo killed 30,000 persons.
1829 March 21
Spain
Earthquake
An earthquake killed 840 persons at Alicante
1829 May 8
Georgia, United States
Meteorite
A 36 lbs. meteorite fell at Forsyth after detonations. (19)
1829 June 15
Spain
Hailstones
Hailstones and ice masses weighing up to 2 lbs. shattered roofs in Cazoria. (4, 21, 30)
1829 July
North America
Meteorite?
An Indian killed by a stone-fall. (16)
1829 July 29
India
Fall
Small fish fell with rain at Moradabad. (31)
1829 September 9
Russia
Meteorites
Several stones fell at Krasnoi-Ugol after detonations. (16,19)
1829 November 19
Czechoslovakia
Meteorites?
Red crystalline stones smelling of sulphur fell at Prague. (16)
1829 December 19
Europe
Cold winter
Temperature of -32.5° C. at St Petersburg. River Seine frozen from Dec. 28 to Jan. 26 1830. (22)
1829 December 20
Scotland
Aurora
Simultaneous observations of an aurora gave a height of only 4,000 feet. (54)
1830 February 15
Oxfordshire, England
Meteorite
A 2 lbs. stone fell at Launton after fireball and detonations. (19)
1830 February 19
India
Fall
Many fish, some decayed, fell near Feridpoor. Some weighed 3 lbs. (13)
1830 March 25
United States
Snow
Thousands of Passenger Pigeons on migration were killed in a snowstorm. (34)
1830 May 17
Scotland
Meteorite
A 15-20 lbs. meteorite fell near Perth. (19)
1830 June 30
-
Sunspot
A nearly circular sunspot 23,000 miles in diameter. (29)
