LANDMARKS OF WORLD HISTORY
A Chronology of Remarkable Natural Phenomena
19th Century 1821-1830
Date
Location
Phenomenon
Description
1821 February 4
England
Lunar event?
Kater observed a lunar ‘volcano’ telescopically
1821 F ebruary 5
Unknown
Lunar event?
Olbers telescopically observed a star-like light in the lunar crater Aristarchus
1821 February 7
Antarctica
Exploration
The crew of the Cecilia set foot on the Antarctic continent in Graham Land
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
1821 June 15
France
Meteorite
A 200 lbs. stone fell at Juvinas after a detonating fireball
1821 June 25
Ireland
Earthquake
‘Numerous and violent’ shocks at Cork
1821 August 18
Europe
Obscuration
A dry fog in Europe for 12 days; Sun appeared blue
1821 September 1
Gloucestershire
Fall
A ’storm of snails’ fell
1821 September 1 - 4
Eastern United States
Hurricane
Great damage in New York
1821 September 9
United States and Canada
Tornadoes
Tornadoes in Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York
1821 December 20
Hampshire, England
Tornado
A tornado in a thunderstorm at Alresford; many trees uprooted and buildings damaged
1821 December 25
London
Meteorological event
Luka Howard recorded a barometer reading of 945.8 millibars
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
1822 March 20
Adriatic
Sounds
Detonations heard all day in the island of Melida; continued for 30 days
1822 April 10
India
Hail
Pumpkin-sized hailstones killed many cattle, Bangalore
1822 May 7
Germany
Hail
13-ounce hailstones fell in Bonn
1822 June 12
Somerset, England
Tornado
A tornado in a thunderstorm uprooted trees and damaged buildings
1822 July 6
Ossonval, France
Tornado
A destructive tornado emitted globes of fire and vapour
1822 July 18
Lincolnshire, England
Tornado
‘Vast column’ carried 4-horse roller 20 yards
1822 August
France
Fall
A heavy shower of toads near Poitiers during rain
1822 August 13
Syria
Earthquake
60 per cent of Aleppo destroyed. Sea wave at Iskendrun
1822 September 5
Syria
Earthquake
Shock destroyed the remains of Aleppo; 20,000 killed
1822 September 13
France
Meteorite
A stone the size of a cannon-ball fell at Epinal after detonations, during a thunderstorm
1822 October 8
Java
Volcano
Galung Gung eruption; 2nd more violent on October 12. Caldera formed
1822 October 22
Italy
Volcano
Eruption of Vesuvius. A stone of several tons thrown 5 kilometres
1822 November 12
Potsdam
Meteor shower
’Shooting stars mingled with balls of fire’
1822 November 20
Chile
Earthquake
Shock destroyed many towns; 10,000 killed
1822 December 1
West Indies
Earthquake
Great damage to buildings in Grenada; more shocks on the 20th
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
1823 June 21
Wiltshire, England
Late cold
A hard frost destroyed crops
1823 August 7
United States
Meteorites
Two stones, weight 16 lbs., fell at Nobleboro’, Maine
1823 August 26
France
Tornado
A tornado destroyed 800 trees and half of Marchepoy village
1823 October 31
Wiltshire, England
Early snow
Heavy snow broke thousands of trees
1824 January 15
Italy
Meteorite
3 stone fragments, weight over 12 lbs., fell at Renazzo after a fireball
1824 February 18
Siberia
Meteorite
A 2 kilogramme stone fell at Tounkin after detonations
1824 August
Canary Islands
Volcano
Craters erupted along a rift line near Rescif
1824 October 14
Czechoslovakia
Meteorite
A 2 kg. stone fell at Praskolesky after detonations
1824 October 20
Unknown
Lunar event?
Gruithuisen telescopically observed an intermittently flashing light on the dark part of the Moon
1824 November 19
Russia
Flood
Baltic Sea and the River Neva submerged St. Petersburg
1825 January 16
India
Meteorite
A meteorite fell at Oriang, killing a man and injuring a woman
1825 February 10
Maryland, United States
Meteorite
A stone of over 16 lbs. fell at Nanjemoy after a detonation
1825 May 25
Wiltshire, England
Meteorite
An iron meteorite said to have fallen at Baydon
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
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.
1825 July 25 -27
West Indies
Hurricane
The ‘Santa Anna’ hurricane. In Puerto Rico about 7,000 houses were destroyed and 374 killed.
1825 September 20
West Indies
Earthquake
A shock caused widespread damage in Trinidad
1825 September 27
Hawaii
Meteorites
Several stones, two of 3 lbs., fell at Honolulu
1825 November
France
Tornado
Carcassone struck by a tornado
1825 November 3
France
Anomalous phenomenon
During a thunderstorm a ‘cloud of fire’ enveloped the forest of Calenhoven for 15 minutes
1826
India
Fall
An ice mass nearly a cubic yard in size fell at Khandeish. It took several days to melt
1826
United States
Meteorites?
Several persons killed by a fall of stones
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
1826 July 3
Wiltshire, England
Ball lightning
Two women killed by a rolling blue fireball, Malvern Hills
1826 August
France
Meteorite?
A large stone fell in a thunderstorm on Mount Galapian
1826 August 26
France
Tornado
A ‘reddish column’ did much damage in Carcassone; 1killed
1827 February 16 or 27
India
Meteorites
Several stones, larges 3 lbs., fell at Mhow after detonations. One broke a tree and another injured a man
1827 May 9
Tennessee
Meteorites
Five stones, largest over 11 lbs., fell at Drake Creek after detonations
1827 June 27
Mediterranean
Tornadoes
A huge waterspout swarm near Stromboli
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
1827 August 26
Austria
Lightning
2 killed in convent of Admont by lightning from a cloud 8 metres thick and 28 metres above ground
1827 October 5 or 8
Poland
Meteorites
A shower of stones at Bialystok, following 6 minutes of ‘extraordinary noise’ from a black cloud
1827 November 27
Caspian Sea
Mud volcano
A mud volcano near Baku sent a column of flame to a great height for 3 hours
1828 March 9
United States
Earthquake
An earthquake shook 190,000 square miles of the Eastern United States from Pennsylvania to South Carolina
1828 May 28
Germany
Fall
A fish fall at Kratzburg
1828 June 4
Virginia, United States
Meteorite
A 4 lbs. stone fell at Richmond
1828 September 7
Yorkshire, England
Bolide
A meteor the size of the Moon and as bright as the Sun seen from Horton
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
1829 June 15
Spain
Hailstones
Hailstones and ice masses weighing up to 2 lbs. shattered roofs in Cazoria
1829 July
North America
Meteorite?
An Indian killed by a stone-fall
1829 July 29
India
Fall
Small fish fell with rain at Moradabad
1829 September 9
Russia
Meteorites
Several stones fell at Krasnoi-Ugol after detonations
1829 November 19
Czechoslovakia
Meteorites?
Red crystalline stones smelling of sulphur fell at Prague
1829 December 19
Europe
Cold winter
Temperature of -32.5° C. at St Petersburg. River Seine frozen from Dec. 28 to Jan. 26 1830
1830 February 13
Oxfordshire, England
Meteorite
A 2 lbs. stone fell at Launton after fireball and detonations
1830 February 19
India
Fall
Many fish, some decayed, fell near Feridpoor. Some weighed 3 lbs.
1830 March 25
United States
Snow
Thousands of Passenger Pigeons on migration were killed in a snowstorm
1830 May 17
Scotland
Meteorite
A 15-20 lbs. meteorite fell in Perthshire
1830 June 30
-
Sunspot
A nearly circular sunspot 23,000 miles in diameter
