237 Years Ago The Skies Over New Hampshire Went Mysteriously Dark

Imagine how terrified you would be if the skies suddenly went dark in the middle of the day with no explanation –now imagine how much more scared you would be if you didn’t the internet to check or the TV or radio to turn on to find answers. That’s exactly the situation New Hampshire residents faced in the midst of the Revolutionary War, and it’s absolutely fascinating.

May 19, 1780, has become know to historians as “New England’s Dark Day.” In the days leading up to May 19th, New Englanders recorded in their diaries that the sun was unusually red, and the sky was a strange yellow.

Flickr/Mibby23

By the late morning of the 19th, a strange darkness began to settle over all of New England, heaviest in southern New Hampshire and northeast Massachusetts.

Flickr/The Whisperer of the Shadows

Farmers watched, bewildered, as their roosters crowed, frogs peeped, and barn animals ran for their shelters, convinced that night had fallen.

Flickr/Rachid H.

By early afternoon, it was as dark as the dead of night, and terrified New Englanders huddled around candles, wondering if the world was ending.

Flickr/Owly9

The moon, despite being full, could not be seen that night, and many wondered if the world would still exist when they awoke.

Flickr/Scazon

The sun did rise the next day, revealing a landscape strangely darkened by ash. The rivers ran dirty, and when it rained, it smelled like soot.

Flickr/Lee Cannon

At the time, no one knew what had happened. In 2007, scientists confirmed, based on tree ring evidence, that the darkness had most likely been caused by forest fires in Canada, the smoke from which had blown south. For those who lived through it, though, that long, dark night was never explained.

Flickr/Judy Baxter

Fascinated by New Hampshire’s mysteries? Check out this intriguing site.