Won't be another eclipse here for about 400 years

By Al Lowe
Contributor

Some years ago, there was an eclipse of the sun. While it was not visible in Canada at all, the total eclipse passed over the big island of Hawaii, where there are large, sophisticated telescopes. Millions of people could see this phenomenon on T.V. It is certainly the most spectacular celestial event there is.
Almost all ancient peoples saw something frightening and sinister in the eclipse of the sun. It was an evil omen and something terrible was about to happen.
Perhaps the gods were angry and were about to come down with a violent hand. Maybe they were removing the sun because of some previous transgression.
Even today, when we know exactly what is going on, you will find that you get an eerie, creepy feeling when the sun disappears in the middle of the day.
A story from ancient China concerns two astronomers who failed to predict an eclipse correctly. Due to their miscalculations, the eclipse came earlier then expected. So the sun grew dark before anyone, especially the Emperor, knew that anything was going to happen. The result - two astronomers were put to death. It didn't pay to make mistakes in ancient China.
The most famous eclipse in all history was one which occurred in the middle East, on May 28, 585 B.C. A great war was going on between the Lydinas and the Medes. About noon, the battle was raging at its height, with thousands of soldiers on either side.
The sun began to grow dim, and finally disappear. The soldiers in both armies were terrified. They feared the wrath of gods, so they made peace with each other - a peace which lasted several generations.
There are several references to eclipses in the Bible. One, from Amos, refers to an eclipse in 763 A.D. "And it shall come to pass on that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth on a clear day."
We can predict the eclipses of the future to the year, day, hour and close to the minute. The last eclipse in Canada was fairly recent - February 21, 1979.
Perhaps you remember it. The eclipse was total at Brandon, Winnipeg and Red Lake. In Fort Frances, it was about 97% total, with less in other parts of the Northwest.
There won't be another total eclipse in Canada until 2024, and then it will be total only in the Maritimes. There won't be another eclipse here for nearly 400 years.
We can just as accurately pinpoint the actual days of previous eclipses for several thousand years of history. In historical writings, when we come upon mention of an eclipse, we can determine the date and time of the event.
An eclipse of the moon, for instance, has enabled historians to locate the actual date of the destruction of the Athenians at the Greek city of Syracuse. It was August 27, 413 B.C.