DJ Surgeles – 1833

On November 12, 1833, there was a meteor shower so intense that it was possible to see up to 100,000 meteors crossing the sky every hour. At the time, many thought it was the end of the world, the sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks and illuminated with majestic fireballs. At Boston, the frequency of meteors was estimated to be about half that of flakes of snow in an average snowstorm. Their numbers … were quite beyond counting; but as it waned, a reckoning was attempted, from which it was computed, on the basis of that much-diminished rate, that 240,000 must have been visible during the nine hours they continued to fall. ”
The lack of substantial knowledge about meteors, let alone Leonids, helped cause the panic and uncertainty of 1833. The slow travel of news at the time also meant it was days before clearer minds were able to start piecing things together scientifically. Since that time, understanding as to how and why such incredible showers happen have steadily grown.

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