The mystery of the Dark Day in New England

The sky in New England, America, one morning in May 1780 suddenly darkened. People in the area panicked about the final Judgment Day.

At 10 am on May 19, 1780, the New England sun was lost in the midst of the night-like darkness. The flowers curled in their wings, and the birds rushed to the shelter. People witnessed the Moon glowing bloody red as the darkness engulfed a series of cities from Maine to New Jersey. Fear, panic all over the place. This mysterious event is famous in history as the New England Black Day .

The painting depicts the darkness in the morning of May 19, 1790, from "Our First History " by Richard Devens, 1876. (Photo: Ancient Origins).

This event is recorded in many diaries, poetry and books. The witness then described the panic that occurred when daylight faded and the dreaded darkness came. At the time of darkness, even the Moon and the stars were obscured.

Belief about Judgment Day

Confusion and fear rise in the context of undeveloped communication in this period. Without telegrams or radio bulletins, people are confused about what is happening or what causes the sudden abundance of darkness in the middle of the day. In the absence of information and scientific explanations, they only had to find an explanation with religious beliefs.

A picture of blood moon.(Photo: Sudhamshu Hebbar / Flickr).

The biblical passages such as "The Sun turns dark and the Moon will be as red as blood, before the greatest and most horrible day of the Lord comes" , or "The Sun is black and the Moon turns into blood, the stars in the sky fall to Earth ". The teachings of the Bible make people believe that the Last Judgment Day has arrived. Many people rushed to the street and shouted about the Judgment Day. New England residents were very religious during this period, for them, natural phenomena were the supreme warning.

Assumptions about Dark Day

It happened 235 years ago, Dark Day made people make many assumptions. It is suggested that the mysterious darkness may be the result of a solar eclipse, a strong thunderstorm, fires, volcanic eruptions, an atmosphere containing reflecting steam, a giant mountain peak that obscures the Sun. or falling meteors.

Over time, many of these assumptions are rejected. Astronomical documents identify no solar eclipse at this time. Historical records exclude the possibility of strong thunderstorms that are caused by daylight. It is also impossible to assume that thick ash dust cloud obscures the Sun, because there is no record or evidence of volcanic activity in 1780, according to Thomas Choularton, professor of atmospheric science at Manchester University, England.

" The dark day in North America is one of the great phenomena of nature that philosophy cannot find a solution to," John Herschel, a mathematician and astronomer, had to admit.

Scientific solution hidden in the trunk

The mystery of New England's Dark Day is still a fascinating topic for science. Finally in 2008, Missouri University scientists found a solution to the mystery that spanned more than two centuries.The wooden ring on the body section of Ontario, Canada revealed an intense wildfire in Canada in 1780, possibly the cause of the New England ghostly shadow.

Evidence from the tree rings indicates that a fierce wildfire in Canada was the cause of the mysterious New England darkness.(Photo: Geograph.ie).

"Wood rings are always the answer to every story," said Erin McMurry, research assistant from the University of Missouri's School of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

Recalling history from wood rings in the trunk, this scientist likens that the tree ring is a natural historical artifact. By determining the age of tree rings, scientists can know when forest fires and droughts occurred.

"As a result, we can decipher the mystery hidden hundreds of years inside the trunk," McMurry said.

The report "Fire scars revealed the cause of Dark Days in New England in 1780" , published in an international journal of Forest Fires, the scientists explained, the fire then created thick pillars of smoke. spread into the high atmosphere, combined with fog, affecting hundreds of kilometers.

This conclusion is consistent with many reports of smoke odor appearing in the New England area. The geographer Jeremy Belknap, Boston, in 1780 in his letter to Ebenezer Hazard wrote that the air "smells like a malt or charcoal kiln" , and describes streams of black and black.

"This is a rare opportunity to combine historical records with modern technology and physical evidence from the tree ring to decipher the mystery with science," McMurry concludes.