I'm Mr. Beat, but I'm not as big as deal as this guy
Christopher Columbus
Almost everyone knows about his first voyage.
ou know, in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean, dude?
Far less people know about his last voyage.
He left Spain on what would be his final voyage on May 11, 1502.
It didn’t go so well.
An epidemic of shipworms, also known as “termites of the sea” (aren’t they cute?) literally ate through his ships.
This, combined with other bad luck on the voyage, eventually left Columbus and his crew stranded on an island that is today known as Jamaica.
The native peoples there, the Arawak Indians, initially welcomed Columbus and his crew, hooking them up with food and shelter.
My two favorite things.
But as the months went by, the natives began to get tired of helping them, especially when they stole stuff and got rowdy.
Because of this, the natives stopped sending them food, so the sailors began to invade the villages and steal it.
After being stranded for over six months, about half of Columbus’ crew revolted.
ome of them ended up murdering a few Arawaks in order to get food.
Columbus knew there would be retaliation, so he came up with a plan.
He asked the village chiefs to meet with him on February 26, 1504.
He began the discussion by telling the chiefs that God wasn’t happy with how the Arawaks were no longer giving his sailors food.
Columbus told them that in three days, God would show how unhappy he was by taking away the moon out of the sky.
The chiefs didn’t believe Columbus.
Some even laughed at him, completely dismissing him as crazy.
And yet, three days later, on February 29, 1504, as the moon rose up in the sky, it began to dim, eventually dimming completely, turning into an amber color.
The natives began to freak out and rushed to find Columbus.
They begged him to talk to God to bring back the moon and promised to never ever refuse food to his people again.
Columbus told them he’d have to talk to God to see if he could reason with him.
About 48 minutes later, Columbus returned to them to report that God had forgiven them and had decided to return the moon.
Sure enough, the moon reappeared, and Columbus had not only just saved his men from starving but he also saved the villagers from future attacks from his men.
We now know that they had all just witnessed a total lunar eclipse.
How did Columbus know about that lunar eclipse?
Like every good sailor, he had a copy of an almanac by the well known astronomer and mathematician, Regiomontanus
That almanac contained astronomical tables from 1475 to 1506, and from that, Columbus was able to predict the total lunar eclipse which would happen on February 29, 1504.
The Arawaks kept Columbus and his crew well fed until a relief ship came to pick them up a few months later.
They returned to Spain on November 7, 1504.
While that might be one of the most well-known lunar eclipses in history, it was still just a lunar eclipse.
No offense, lunar eclipses, but you ain't got nothing on solar eclipses. They are much more dramatic.
Lunar eclipses occur when we can’t see the moon because it is in the earth’s shadow, commonly known as its “umbra.”
Solar eclipses occur when we can’t see the sun because it is blocked by the moon.
How can something so small as the moon block something so big as the sun you say?
Well, the sun is a lot further away than the moon, so…
Wait a second, this is turning into a science video.
How about you just watch this video and it will fill you in as to how solar eclipses actually work.
As a social studies teacher, I’m going to delve more into how solar eclipses have affected us, human beings, throughout history.
In particular, with this video I’m going to focus on TOTAL solar eclipses, as they are much more rare.
Total solar eclipses are eclipses of the sun in which the moon COMPLETELY hides the solar surface, cutting off direct sunlight to certain areas on the planet.
During total solar eclipses, it becomes as dark as night, in the middle of the day.
This freaks animals out, and often they are confused as to whether or not they should be sleeping or staying awake.
You know who else it used to freak out?
Arguably the smartest animals on the planet.
ou know who I’m talking about. Humans!
In ancient times, they just assumed it was maybe the end of the world, or that God or the gods were all upset with them, or who knows.
Eventually, humans started to figure out a pattern.
The ancient Chinese and Babylonians were among the first to be able to predict solar eclipses, as early as 2500 BCE.
The Chinese believed solar eclipses predicted the health and accomplishments of the emperor.
Oh, and they believed they were caused by a fire-eating dragon who swallowed the sun. Yeah.
One legend reports that two Chinese dudes were killed for failing to predict a solar eclipse.
Historians say the eclipse that they failed to predict occurred on October 22, 2134 BCE, making that the oldest solar eclipse recorded in human history.
The Babylonians were a bit better predicting them.
They used the saros cycle to predict solar eclipses.
Similar to the ancient Chinese, the Babylonians thought solar eclipses meant the gods were upset with their king.
In 753 BC, in the ancient Assyrian city of Ashur, a 5-minute long total solar eclipse likely caused a revolt. Oops.
On the flip side, apparently a solar eclipse stopped a war.
That’s what the Greek historian Herodotus says, anyway.
The Lydians and Medes were fighting each other when they looked up and saw dark skies.
They took it as a sign to make peace with each other.
Jesus Christ- another dude have probably heard of, may have been crucified during a total solar eclipse.
The Christian gospels say that the sky darkened after the Romans killed Jesus.
Some historians link this to either a total solar eclipse that happened in 29 CE or a different one that happened in 33 CE.
The superstition related to solar eclipses lasted into the Middle Ages.
On August 2, 1133, a particularly long total solar eclipse happened.
Not long after, King Henry I of England died and a civil war started, known as The Anarchy.
Everyone blamed the freaking eclipse.
The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was also blamed on a solar eclipse.
Finally, the Scientific Revolution happened and all of this superstition started to fade away.
In 1605, Johannes Kepler presented a nice scientific description of why total solar eclipses actually happen.
Later on, Edmund Halley, of Halley’s comet fame, fairly accurately predicted a solar eclipse that took place on May 3, 1715.
A Prussian named Julius Berkowski took this, the first photograph of a total solar eclipse on July 28, 1851.
Over the past couple of centuries, scientists have seen solar eclipses as opportunities to make more discoveries or to test theories.
robably one of the most famous of these was the one that occurred on May 29, 1919.
During that total eclipse, which was one of the longest of the 20th century, Sir Arthur Eddington performed the first experimental test of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
The experiment verified Einstein’s theory and transformed him into a worldwide celebrity.
Why did total solar eclipses freak out so many people for so long?
A lack of understanding, yes, but just keep in mind just how rare they are.
If I live to be 100 years old, there will be just 44 more total solar eclipses worldwide in my lifetime.
That’s two every three years. I'm not THAT old, come on.
That doesn’t sound too rare, actually, but when you consider that the path of totality is often not that wide, and that much of the earth’s surface is water and hard to get to, you appreciate them quite a bit more.
Let me put it this way.
On average, a total solar eclipse only happens on a given spot on the planet once every 375 years.
Some places may not experience it for thousands of years at a time.
The most recent total eclipse in Winnipeg, Canada, took place on February 26, 1979.
The next scheduled one there? 3356.
Today, there are people known as eclipse chasers, or “umbraphiles,” who are so addicted to experiencing these rare, remarkable moments that they travel around the world, sometimes to remote locations, to get to totality.
Part of the appeal is that rarity.
Which is why I would be stupid to not catch this upcoming total solar eclipse on August 21.
The last total solar eclipse that reached the continental United States happened I wasn't even alive yet.
and I'm kind of old.
The path of totality for the August 21st one will be just 30 miles from where I live.
It will pass through 14 states and five state capitals.
Hundreds of millions will likely see it, and it’ll probably cause major traffic jams.
And it will be an experience my family and I will never ever forget.
Are you going to watch the August 21st total solar eclipse?
If so, I would like to know how you are going to experience it.
Please let me know in the comments below.
Also, check out some cool links in the description of this video all about the eclipse coming up.
And I can't see a thing right now.
so I'm going to try to make my way back over to turn the camera off.
But thank you for watching.