LANDMARKS OF WORLD HISTORY
A Chronology of Remarkable Natural Phenomena
19th Century 1831-1840
Date
Location
Phenomenon
Description

1831 January 7
World
Obscuration
An almost worldwide dry fog, luminous at night

1831 May 13
France
Meteorite
A 20 kg. stone fell at Vouille after fireball and detonations. Date may be July 18

1831 June 1
Arctic
Exploration
James Ross reaches North Magnetic Pole, 70 5’ N., 96° 46’ W.

1831 June 28
Mediterranean
Volcano
The volcanic island of Ferdinandea (Graham Island) appeared between Sicily and North Afica

1831 August 3
Constantinople
Hailstorm
A fatal hailstorm with stones up to 1 lb.; many injured

1831 August 4
Ireland
Tornado
‘Waterspout’ destroyed buildings and killed 17 persons

1831 August 4
Mediterranean
Volcano
Ferdinandea 200 feet high and 3 miles in circumference

1831 August 10 - 11
West Indies
Hurricane
Over 1,500 killed in Barbados

1831 September 9
Czechoslovakia
Meteorite
A 3.75 kg. stone fell at Wessely after moving cloud and detonations

1831 October
Mediterranean
Volcano
Ferdinandea washed away by sea

1832 March
Kourianof, Russia
Fall
“Combustible yellowish substance’ fell and covered 700 square feet area 2 inches thick

1832 June 23
India
Meteor?
3 fireballs rose over horizon and united into one as large as Moon, Delhi.

1832 November 13
Mocha, Red Sea
Meteor shower
‘Meteors burst in every direction’

1832 November
Sicily
Volcano
Eruption of Mt. Etna; lava flow 18 miles long, 1 mile wide and 30 feet deep

1832 November 13
Europe
Meteor shower
“incredible number’ of meteors seen from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and South Russia

1833 May 1 (before)
France
Meteor shower?
‘Shower of fire’ in sky near Caen and Argenton

1833 May 16
India
Fall
Dead and dry fish fell at Futtepoor (same as 1834 May 17?)

1833 June
France
Fall
A rain of toads at Jouy

1833 September
Scotland
Meteor??
Slow-moving fireball seen over a minute, Islay

1833 November 9
England
Meteor shower
‘Thousands of meteors’ after midnight, Portsmouth

1833 November 13
North America
Meteor shower
240,000 meteors in 9 hours

1833 November 25
Moravia
Meteorites
A shower of stones at Blansko

1833 November
India
Meteorites
A shower of stones killed 1 person at Kandahar

1833 November 25
Sumatra
Earthquake
Shock and seismic sea wave devastated SW coast

1833 December 27 (or 28)
Russia
Meteorite
A 30 lbs. stone fell at Volhynia

1834 January 8
Poland
Meteorite
A 26 lbs. stone fell at Okniny

1834 February
Iceland
Volcano
A submarine eruption off Cape Reykjanes

1834 May 17
India
Fall
Dust storm and fall of thousands of dead and dry fish at Allahabad

1834 June 4
United States
Tornadoes
Two tornadoes in Virginia; one up to 3 miles wide

1834 June 12
India
Meteorite
A 26 lbs. stone fell at Charwallas

1834 August 9
United States
Fall
A shower of mussels during a storm

1834 September 20
West Indies
Hurricane
Over 200 killed in Dominica

1834 December 10 (or 15)
Sicily
Meteorite
A 15 lbs. stone fell at Marsala

1835 January 18
Lobau
Fall
“Small friable vesicular’ stones fell

1835 January 22
Nicaragua
Volcano
Eruption of Coseguina; explosion heard 1,100 miles away

1835 February 20
Chile
Earthquake
Shock and sea wave; over 5,000 killed in Concepcion and Santiago

1835 June 19
New Jersey, United States
Tornado
‘Great New Brunswick Tornado’; much damage on track 17 miles long

1835 July 31 (or August 1)
Tennessee
Meteorite
A 9 lbs. iron fell at Charlotte after detonation

1835 August 4
Gloucestershire, England
Meteorites
A shower of meteorites at Aldsworth

1835 August 6
Italy
Comet
First observations of Halley’s Comet

1835 September 6
Germany
Fall
Jelly-like mass fell 3 feet from observer with loud noise, Gotha

1835 December 22
England
Lunar event
Star-like light in lunar crater Aristarchus (telescopic)

1836 January 12
France
Meteor
Rotating ‘meteor’ with dark cavity, Cherbourg, crackling, whistling sounds; ‘1,000 feet high’

1836 January 31
France
Meteor
A 1 kg. stone fell at Mascombes after explosions

1836 February
China
Snow
Heavy snow in Canton, lat. 23° N. Temperature 37° F.

1836 May 15
Scotland
Solar eclipse
Annular eclipse at Jedberg, Roxburgshire. Baily observed ‘beads’

1836 May 21
Euphrates River
Tornado
Steamboat Tigris sunk by a tornadic waterspout

1836 June 26
India
Meteorites
3 stones fell at Chandakapur, total 7 kg.

1836 October 29
England
Early snow
1 inch of snow in London; nearly 1 foot deep, Bury St. Edmunds, lay for 5 days

1836 November 11
Brazil
Meteorites
Shower of stones fell at Macau after detonating meteor. Largest 80 lbs. Cattle killed

1836 November 22?
Silesia
Meteor?
An ‘atmospheric explosion’

1836 December 25
Sussex, England
Blizzard
Snow 20 feet deep near Lewes

1836 December 27
Sussex, England
Avalanche
Snow slide fell 350 feet and destroyed houses, Lewes; 8 killed

1837 February 15
Scotland
Fall
Black powder fell at Comrie

1837 May 25
South Africa
Sunspot
J. Herschel observed sunspot with nucleus 9,000 miles wide

1837 July 12
Rome
‘Vulcan’
De Vico telescopically observed a small round spot cross much of the Sun in 6 hours

1837 July 13
Japan
Meteorite
A 30 kg. stone fell at Yonozu after detonations

1837 July 24
Czechoslovakia
Meteorite
A 23 lbs. stone fell at Gross-Divina

1837 August
France
Meteorite
A 3 lbs. stone fell at Esnaude

1837 November 12
Britain
Meteor shower
Meteors moved N to S and burst

1838 January 20
London
Winter cold
‘Coldest day of the century’ in London; -4° F., Greenwich, 12° F. at noon

1838 January 21
Siberia
Winter cold
Temperature of -76° F. at Yakutsk

1838 April
India
Hail?
A mass of hailstones 20 feet in diameter fell at Dharwar

1838 April 18
India
Meteorite
A 4 lbs. stone fell at Akburpoor

1838 May 18
Bolide
United States and Canada
Exploding meteor 30 miles up, velocity 2,100 miles per minute

1838 September 10
London
Balloon ascent
Green and Rush reach estimated altitude of 27,146 feet

1838 September 16
Denmark
Aurora
‘Whole northern sky in motion’ with luminous clouds; ‘sizzling sound’

1838 September 20
India
Fall
Live fish fell with rain near Calcutta

1838 December 5
Ceylon
Meteor shower
‘Incessant’ shower of meteors for 3 hours

1838 December 7
England
Meteor shower
‘Great number of falling stars’ all over sky, Herefordshire

1839 January 11
West Indies
Earthquake
Violent shock felt in Martinique (389 killed), St. Lucia, Soufriere, Barbados, etc.

1839 February 13
United States
Meteorite
A 50 lbs. stone fell at Little Piney

1839 June 17
France
Tornado
A tornado near Chatenay unroofed houses and uprooted trees

1839 September 3
Northern Hemisphere
Aurora
An aurora seen simultaneously from Scotland, Paris, Connecticut and New Orleans

1839 September 15
London
Aurora
‘Vast sheet’ of red light from E to W; all London’s fire-engines dispatched

1839 September 20
India
Fall
A fall of live fish near Calcutta

1839 October 23
Scotland
Earthquake
Shock centred at Comrie, Perthshire affected 2/3rds of Scotland

1840 March 24
Reading, England
Tornado
1 man killed and 40-ton locomotive derailed by a whirlwind at Reading station

1840 May 7
Mississippi, United States
Tornado
“Great Natchez Tornado’ killed 269 on river and 48 in city

1840 May 9
Siberia
Meteorite
A 7 lbs. stone fell at Karakol

1840 May 30
Hawaii
Volcano
Lava lake of Kilauea broke through caldera and created lava flow 40 miles long, 100 feet deep and 1 to 5 miles wide

1840 July
Turkey
Volcano
Earthquake and eruption of Mount Ararat

1840 July 17
Italy
Meteorite
An 11 lbs. stone fell at Cereseto after fireball

1840 October 31
France
Floods
Rhone and Saone floods after rainstorms inundated Lyons and Avignon

1840 December 15
Paris
Winter cold
Several persons at Napoleon’s funeral died of cold; -14° C.