The Darkness of 1780

1780 The Darkness of 1780: An unexplained near-total darkness fell on Eastern Canada and America’s New England states at around 2 pm.

On the day, both houses of the Connecticut Legislature were in session. That afternoon the sky became exceedingly dark for hours, so in the House of Representatives, members adjourned, being unable to transact their business, and the members left in haste. The rumour was circulating that a natural disaster or even the end of the world was imminent.

Meanwhile, a move to adjourn the Council was opposed by Colonel Abraham Davenport who is said to have moved that proposed that candles be lit so they could go on with their business. "I am against an adjournment," he said, "The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause of an adjournment: if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I move that candles be brought, and we proceed to business." The good senators continued their civic duties in the Council by candlelight until late in the afternoon when the sun gradually re-emerged.

This event was memorialised in a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807 - 1892), entitled 'Abraham Davenport' ...

Tagged: anomalies, meteorology, usa