How softly runs the afternoon
Beneath the billowy clouds of June!
Towne
1831 Captain Ross reached the North Magnetic Pole, then situated on the desolate peninsula of Boothia Felix, 70° 5' N., 96° 46' W.
1779 A water-devil whirlwind passed across an Aberdeenshire loch on a fine, calm day, raising a pillar of spray as high as the tallest trees.
1769 Captain Cook observed the transit of Venus in the South Seas. Simultaneous observations in Europe gave the first accurate measurement of the Sun's distance.
1944 A Channel storm caused the invasion of Normandy to be postponed. A gust of 51 m.p.h. (82 km/hr.) was recorded at Kew. June 6th became D-day.
1792 Gloucester and the surrounding country was visited by an intense frost and deep snow.
1816 In the 'Year without a Summer' snow fell on June 6th in Vermont from dawn to mid-afternoon. Snow was 12 inches (30 cm.) deep in Quebec .
1931 The strongest earthquake recorded in Britain shook England and Scotland . The epicentre was in the North Sea east of Hull .
1783 The great Laki fissure eruption in Iceland began. The lava volume was three cubic miles. A famine followed and 1/5th of Iceland 's population died.
1860 A duck-egg sized mass of 'friable sandstone' fell at Raphoe , Ireland .
1866 The astronomer Tempel observed a star-like light in the lunar crater Aristarchus.
1800 A tornado like a 'sky blue serpent' emitting 'torrents of fire' caused great damage at Quintana in Spain .
1748 A hailstorm in London with stones two inches (5 cm.) across.
1887 Over fifteen hours of sunshine were recorded at Kew Observatory in London .
1945 One of the lowest temperatures recorded in Australia ; -8° F. (-22° C.) at Charlotte Pass.
1793 A great eruption of Vesuvius began. Lava flowed from a fissure half a mile long.
1819 An earthquake killed 1,543 persons at Cutch in India. The town of Sindree and adjoining country were inundated by a tremendous rush from the ocean.
1882 A tornado formed 90 miles (145 km.) west of Grinnell , Iowa , and moved E.N.E. at 57 m.p.h. (92 km/hr.) Grinnell was struck at 8.30 pm, with 100 killed and 150 injured.
1178 The waxing crescent Moon was seen to split in two from Canterbury , and a flaming torch emerged. Possibly a giant lunar meteorite impact.
1835 The Great New Brunswick Tornado caused great forest and property damage in New Jersey on a track 17 miles (27 km.) long before becoming a waterspout in New York Bay .
AD 540 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded an eclipse of the Sun in which stars were visible. The eclipse was total in the Mediterranean .
1855 There was a white frost in southern England , and thick ice formed on ponds and still water. The grass minimum at Greenwich was 26° F. (-3° C.)
1928 Will Keller, of Greensburg , Kansas , saw the interior of a tornado. The walls were of rotating clouds and the hollow centre was illuminated by lightning.
1809 A rainstorm with a heavy fall of toads the size of hazelnuts at Poitiers in France .
1225 The Winchester Annals recorded a very great snow with thunder and lightning. The 'snow' may have been graupel or soft hail.
1890 An 188 lbs. (85 kg.) stone meteorite was seen to fall at Farmington , Kansas , after a detonating fireball.
1807 The magazine of a fortress in Luxembourg was struck by lightning and exploded, wrecking the lower town. 230 lives were lost.
1906 The strongest recorded Welsh earthquake occurred at 9.45 am. It was centred near Swansea and was felt over an area of 37,800 square miles. (60,000 square kilometres)
1812 A 'waterquake' in Marseilles harbour caused much shipping damage. The water sank, rushed out and returned with great force several times.
1904 A tornado caused great damage and many casualties in Moscow. A child was carried several kilometres.
1908 A fiery body passed across the sky and exploded with 12-megaton force near the Tunguska River, Siberia. Millions of trees were blown down.