Posted on 02/19/2008 9:19:42 AM PST by BradtotheBone
One of my favorite stories.
To see the eclipse, some people would go outdoors, but most will read about it on the Internet. Maybe somebody will post an image.
“He called the native leaders and warned them if they did not cooperate, he would make the Moon disappear from the sky the following night.”
Ah Columbus... a masterful politician... lying, lying, lying to get what he wanted...
ML/NJ
I’m going to be on a plane, heading for Tucson- hoping that I’ll be able to get a good view!
I saw a movie a long time ago where an explorer did this same trick. He was captured in Africa and about to be killed when he pulled out his almanac. He saw the eclipse and repeated the same warning Columbus did, and saved his life. The director proabably used Columbus story.
Get a seat on the correct side of the cabin. The moon will be to the south side. Clouds might be interesting in the red light.
To bad Bobby didn’t have an almanac on that fateful canoe trip down the Cahulawassee...
Bing Crosby did a similar bit in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (time travel), but using a solar eclipse.
He was about to be burned at the stake (I think) and remembered there would be an eclipse on that day. So . . . at the appropriate moment he started rattling off a train schedule - something like "Alhambra, Riverside, and CUC-A-MONGA!" just as the sun went dark. The locals panicked and turned him loose. Typical Hollywood fluff, but pretty funny in spots, with William Bendix as a goofy knight.
That must be it. I was about 10 when I saw it. I thought it was funny then!
You see, it was the eclipse.
It came into my mind in the nick of time, how Columbus,
or Cortez, or one of those people, played an eclipse as
a saving trump once, on some savages, and I saw my chance.
I could play it myself, now, and it wouldn’t be any
plagiarism, either, because I should get it in nearly
a thousand years ahead of those parties.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
MARK TWAIN
I’m going to try this next time I’m about to be disembowled or beheaded to please an Aztec deity.
Imagine if some guy said “Tomorrow the sun (or moon) will be covered with a shadow; it will be an omen that the world will end. But don’t worry. I know what to do. You need to appease the angry gods with much gold and your virgin daughters (delivered to the intermediary to the Gods...ME!). Once the gold and virgins are delivered I will ask the Gods for intercession and the shadow will be removed from the sun (or moon).”
You might think he is full of it at first. But loe and behold the shadow comes, you give him what he wants, he does his mumbo jumbo and the shadow is removed. -
Another eclipse with historical significance was the lunar eclipse of August 27, 413 B.C., during the Peloponnesian War. The Athenians had been about to abandon their siege of Syracuse, but the eclipse led their superstitious general Nicias to consult the soothsayers, who told him they must wait 27 days before moving. The Syracusans forced a battle before the 27 days were up, but the delay may have made the difference in the final outcome of the campaign—the Athenian forces were all killed or captured...a total disaster.
Sorry, couldn't resist
Hi there,
As it turned out, the eclipse was BEHIND the plane- but the pilot got permission from air traffic control to do a 360 because so many of us were asking where to sit to get a good view. :)
It was an amazing sight to see!
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