OCTOBER
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather.
Jackson
Donati’s Comet as seen from Cambridge, October 11, 1858
October 1
AD 679 Cotton-like matter about 6 feet long fell over Naniwa in Japan and was drifted by the wind here and there.
October 2
1839 De Cuppis at Rome saw a round dark spot crossing the Sun. Leverrier considered this to be a certain observation of the intraMercurian planet Vulcan.
October 3
1908 Tillypronie, Scotland, at a height of 1,120 feet, (341 m.) registered a temperature of 81° F. (27° C.)
October 4
1852 Four hop-pickers were killed and 16 injured when they were struck by lightning at Sutton Valence in Kent.
October 5
1831 Hailstones or ice masses as large as a fist fell at Constantinople.
October 6
1880 A great prominence on the Sun's limb rose to a height of over 350,000 miles (563,000 km.) in less than one hour.
October 7
1829 Large flakes of snow fell and covered the ground thickly at Chiswick, west London. The wind was strong from the north-east.
October 8
1130 A monster like a serpent flew over Bohemia and many other places for a short time about sunset. This may have been the serpentine track of a large meteor.
October 9
1604 Discovery date of the supernova known as Kepler's Star. The star reached maximum brightness, about magnitude -3, on October 28
October 10
1114 The River Thames was so low that multitudes of men and boys waded across between London Bridge and the royal tower.
October 11
1858 The tail of Donati's Comet reached a length of 50 million miles, (80 million km.) and appeared to be 60 degrees long. See here.
October 12
1869 'Vast numbers' of spiders and webs fell at Tiverton in Devon.
October 13
1838 Many chondritic carbonaceous meteorites fell at Cold Bokkevold, South Africa.
October 14
1761 A tornado at Great Malvern in Wiltshire "had the appearance of a volcano" and was accompanied by great noise.
October 15
1780 A gale swept England: it was originally a hurricane which killed 20,000 people in the West Indies. A tornado did much damage at Hammersmith.
October 16
1942 A typhoon storm surge flooded 5,000 square miles of Bengal and drowned 40,000 persons.
October 17
1846 Blood-red rain and red dust fell at Lyon in France, accompanied by a 'hurricane' from the south.
October 18
1832 A thick yellow fog in Saxony was dissipated by an earthquake.
October 19
1877 A huge ball of green fire fell during a severe gale in England.
October 20
1824 The astronomer Gruithuisen saw an 'intermittently flashing light' on the dark part of the Moon.
October 21
1638 A tornado struck Widecombe church, Devon, during a service. A pinnacle fell through the roof. A lightning ball exploded in the church, killing 6 or 7 persons.
October 22
1928 A tornado crossed central London from Victoria to Euston, blowing much masonry into the streets.
October 23
1839 An earthquake which shook two-thirds of Scotland was centred on Comrie in Perthshire, the most earthquake-prone town in Britain.
October 24
1870 A great aurora was seen from London. At 8 pm the sky seemed to be a mass of fire, and brilliant crimson rays shot up to the zenith.
October 25
1859 A hurricane-like gale in England, with a calm 'eye'. The Royal Charter steamer was lost with 480 lives. 68 other vessels were wrecked.
October 26
1859 One of the columns in the Temple of Jupiter Olympus at Athens was felled by a nocturnal 'hurricane' - probably a tornado.
October 27
1913 A tornado in South Wales killed three people and did much damage. The tornado later touched down in Cheshire, felling hundreds of trees. See here.
October 28
1899 A round luminous object as large as the Moon was seen for 15 minutes in the sky over Luzarches in France.
October 29
1836 An inch of snow fell in London: near Bury St. Edmunds (Suffolk), the snow was nearly a foot deep and lay for five days.
October 30
1937 The asteroid Hermes passed within 485,000 miles (780,000 km.) of the Earth, missing collision by a few hours. It was about 5 miles (8 km.) wide. The asteroid has since been lost.
October 31
1322 The Sun became blood-coloured in England from 7 am to 1 pm.
