When were the sun and moon darkened?
Answer
May 19, 1780.
NOTES - "The nineteenth of May, 1780 was a remarkably dark day. Candles were lighted in
many houses. The birds were silent, and disappeared. The fowls retired to roost. It was the general opinion
that the day of judgment was at hand. The legislature of Connecticut was in session at Hartford, but being
unable to transact business, adjourned."--President Dwight, in 'Historical Collections!'
"In some places persons could not see to read common print in the open air for several hours
together. Birds sang their evening songs, disappeared, and became silent the barnyard; and candles were
lighted in the silent; fowls went to roost; cattle sought the barnyard and candles were lit in the houses. The
obscuration began about ten o'clock in the morning, and continued until the middle of the next night, but
with differences of degree and duration in different places. . . . The true causes of this remarkable
phenomenon are not known." Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, edition 1883, page 1604, in article "The
Dark Day!'
Herschel, the great astronomer, says: "The dark day in Northern America was one of those
wonderful phenomena of nature which will always be read with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss
to explain."
The darkness was not caused by any eclipse of the sun by the moon, for it was full moon only the
night before, and consequently the moon was on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.
"The darkness of the following evening was probably as deep and dense as ever had been
observed since the Almighty first gave birth to light; it wanted only palpability to render it as extraordinary
as that which overspread the land of Egypt in the days of Moses. If every luminous body in the universe
had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, it was thought the darkness could not
have been more complete. A sheet of white paper, held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally
invisible with the blackest velvet." Our First Century," by R. M. Devins, Page 94.
The darkness of the night was as supernatural as that of the previous day, from the fact, as stated
by Dr. Adams, that "the moon had fulled the day before."
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Questions & Answers are from the book Bible Readings for the Home Circle