Description: Fellow Minuteman and weather historian John Horrigan will retrace the steps of a historic military expedition that helped free Boston from British occupation during the Revolutionary War. He will present a slide show about the amazing engineering feat of the Knox brothers, who dragged 59 cannons 300 miles in 56 days in 1775 and 1776, culminating in a clandestine battery placement at Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston Harbor. This forced the British to evacuate Boston on March 17th, 1776. Mr. Horrigan will also discuss the favorable weather conditions encountered during the operation, a massive blizzard that barely missed Boston in January of 1776 (but gave Quebec twenty-foot snowdrifts!) and a freak gullywasher that hit early on March 6th and thwarted a planned British counter-attack on Dorchester Heights.

Review (Steve Humphrey, Lincoln Minutemen): "We'd like to thank you for your riveting presentation and bringing to light one of the most important engineering feats in the history of warfare."

Description: The harsh winters endured by the colonists of the Revolutionary War affected the outcome of several battles and changed America’s destiny. Historical weather researcher, John Horrigan will present a captivating lecture describing the historical impact of meteorological events from 1774 through 1782. Mr. Horrigan will discuss the bleak conditions during the Crossing of the Delaware and through the encampment at Valley Forge. Many more historic events leading up to and following these will also be discussed. You will enjoy the remarkable research of local historian, John Horrigan. Please join us for this wintry mix of history.

Review (Watertown Free Public Library): "One could feel the chills of the subzero temperatures and the depression of day after day of snow piling into drifts that hindered both sides. We also think that you reinforced the determination of the population to succeed at their goals despite the weather conditions...Boy he (Horrigan) is good - I never thought that I would be that interested in weather...Thank you again for your wonderful presentation and your enthusiasm for your topic."

Review (Lexington Minutemen): "That was a superb talk. Very informative. Wonderful articulation. When can you come back again and give the Knox presentation?"

Review (Menotomy Minutemen): "An extremely interesting review of the American Revolution in regard to the harsh weather that was experienced by both armies"

Description: The surprise hurricane of September 21, 1938 devastated Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Western Massachusetts. Many victims drowned while others partied. Entire landscapes in Rhode Island were scoured and decimated. Some were swept out to sea and never seen again. There were unbelievable acts of heroism, cowardice, kindness and selfishness. Actress Katherine Hepburn lost her family home in Connecticut as others lost their livelihood and shelter to storm surge. Nearly 69 years later to the very day, New England folklorist John Horrigan takes you from the unheeded warnings through the botched forecasts to the unmarked graves with a driving narrative about "GH38".

Review (Ventress Memorial Library): "Once again you've provided a provocative presentation. Our audience of 80 plus was delighted. You brought many of them back to their childhood with vivid recollections"

Description: The first tornado ever spotted by colonists occurred in Massachusetts. Nationally, Massachusetts has the highest tornado death rate. Since 1950, over 420 tornadoes have touched down in Massachusetts. On June 9, 1953, an F-4 tornado traveled 45 miles and killed over 90 people in less than 90 minutes. It obliterated parts of Worcester. We’ll revisit that horrible day, correlate it with the “Beecher Tornado” and take a look at Bay State twisters from the colonial whirlwinds in the 17th century, to the macrobursts and microbursts of 2007. We’ll also review great hail and lightening storms. Topics include: "John Winthrop's Sudden Gust, 1643", "The Violent Hurricane of Rehoboth, 1671", "Cambridge Whirlwind of 1680", "The Hurricane of Pepperell, 1748"; "The Hurricane of Leicester, 1759"; "The Severe Thunderstorms of 1768"; "The Merrimack River Hurricane, 1773", “The Nantucket Whirlwind of March 9, 1774”, "The Tornado Outbreak of 1782", "The Four-State Tornado Swarm of 1787", "The Great New Hampshire Tornado, 1821 (featuring the Franklin County Tornado in Massachusetts)", “The Sutton Tornado of June, 1831”, "The Providence Area Tornado, 1838" (featuring the Funnels of Fall River), "The Middlesex County Tornado of August 22, 1851", “The Lawrence Twister of July 26, 1890”, "The Martha's Vineyard Water Spout of 1896", “The West Stockbridge Tornado of August, 1973”, “The Bradley Airport-Westfield Tornado of October 3, 1979”, “The Great Barrington Tornado of May 29, 1995”, The Northampton tornado of June 2, 2000”, “The Princeton Twister of June 17, 2001”, “The West Brookfield Funnel of July 23, 2002; “The Wrentham Microburst of August 24, 2004”, “The Wendell Tornado of July 11, 2006”, “The Derecho of August 2, 2006”, “The Squall Line of May 16, 2007”, “The Somers Landspout of May 28, 2007”, “The Essex Downburst of June 2, 2007” and “The New Braintree Tornado of July 19, 2007”.

Description: A review of important meteorological and astronomical events that impacted (either directly or indirectly) the struggle for Independence by the Thirteen Colonies: "The Independence Hurricane (1775)", "The Storms of the Quebec Expedition (1775-76); "A Christmas Present for Henry Knox (1775)"; "The Dorchester Heights' Gullywasher (March 6, 1776); "Eclipses of The American Revolution: The Partial Solar Eclipse of August 14, 1776; The Lunar Eclipse of May 29, 1779; The Solar Eclipse of October 27, 1780; The Lunar Eclipse of November 11, 1780; The Lunar Eclipse of March 29, 1782; The Solar Eclipse of April 12, 1782 and the Transit of Mercury on November 12, 1782"; "The Mid-Winter Tornado (1776)"; "The Battle of Trenton (1776)"; "A Violent Stormy Day (February, 1778)"; "The Impact of the Solar Eclipse on the Monmouth and Illinois Campaigns and How Washington and Clark Used It To Their Advantage (June 24, 1778)"; "The Liberty Hurricanes (August, 1778)"; "The October Storm (1778)"; "The Sinking of the HMS Somerset (November 3, 1778)"; "The Hessian Storm (December, 1778)"; "Struggle At Valley Forge (177-78)"; "Dunbar's Hurricane (1779)"; The Sinking of the Bonhomme Richard (September 23, 1779)"; "New England's Dark Day (May, 1780)"; "The Hard Winter (1780)"; "The Tri-Hurricane Season of 1780 (includes "Solano's Storm, "Savanna-La-Mar Hurricane" and "The Great Hurricane"); "Looming Day on Nantucket (May, 1781)"; "The Occupation Storm at Charleston (1781)"; "Thirty British Warships Lost In Jamaica (August 1, 1781)"; "The Early Summer Hurricane (June 23, 1782)"; "The Tornado Outbreak of 1782"; "Morristown Tornado (1783)"; "Stormy October (1783)"; "New England's Greatest Sea Tragedy - The Loss of the HMS Erfprins" (November 25, 1783) and "George Washington's Hurricane (July, 1788)"

HISTORICAL FIRES:

Description: On Monday, April 21, 1941 a firestorm, driven by unseasonably high winds, engulfed 446 homes, 96 garages, 12 stores, 2 hotels, a casino, a post office and a church in Brant Rock, Massachusetts. Miraculously, due to the heroics of several police and fire departments (who were aided by local volunteers), not one life was lost. But in the aftermath of the inferno, many things changed in Marshfield: the landscape of Fieldston, Brant Rock and Ocean Bluff, the subsequent building codes, the firefighting methodology, the retail district, the resorts and the way of life of many year-round and summer residents of Marshfield. Exactly 66 years later to the day, New England folklorist and historical fire researcher John Horrigan will present a slide show and lecture that will bring you back to that blustery night through photographs and newspapers accounts of the period. He will show you the spot where the conflagration was sparked and the area where it was halted. Did you know that there is a beautiful little park that is dedicated to the Great Fire? Mr. Horrigan will also give a brief overview of the great fires in Massachusetts' history. At the conclusion of the presentation, you are invited to share any memories that you may have of the event. Performed on the 66th anniversary (April 21, 2007) at Ventress Memorial Library.

Review (Ventress Memorial Library): "That a most wonderful and memorable presentation. Your passion for the subject was heartfelt. It was by far the most successful lecture that we have hosted. We did not anticipate nearly 100 people attending and apologize that you had to speak from a doorway of the two rooms".



Reading the Declaration of Independence to the Town of Lincoln on July 4th ,2007.

Description: A review of historical fires during the American Revolution including: The Burning of Munitions; The Burning of Concord (1775); The Burning of Charlestown (1775); The Burning of Falmouth (1775); The Burning of Norfolk (January 1, 1776); The Great Fire of New York (1776); The Burning of Iroquois Villages in Newtown, NY (1779); The Great Charleston Fire (1780) and the Burning of New London By Turncoat Benedict Arnold (September, 1781).

HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKES:

Description: New England folklorist John Horrigan presents an overview of the temblors to shake New England from 1638 through 1800 to the Waltham Historical Society. The slide show presentation and lecture will focus on the impact of earthquakes on New England settlers. Discussion will include the temblors of the 16th century (as relayed to Roger Williams by Native Inhabitants), the earthquakes felt in Boston in 1638 and 1663, the Concord/Bulkeley earthquake of 1653, the Littleton Earthquake of 1668, the Brockton Earthquake of 1697, the Cape Ann Earthquakes of 1727, 1744 and 1755, the Harvard Earthquake Riot of 1768 and conclude with a brief interlude on the "Boston Shaker of 1800". Some poems related to the events will be recited and the non-impact on Boston of the New Madrid Seismic Event of 1811 and 1812 and the Littleton Earthquake (2.5) of October 19, 2007 will be explored. This talk would coincide with Horrigan's release of his new audio CD (recorded with Dr. John Ebel of Weston Observatory) entitled "Great New England Earthquakes". Copies of the CD will be presented to the Waltham Historical Society and will be debuted after the lecture.

Review (Waltham Historical Society): "As expected, your presentation was most enlightening. The members expressed their delight with both your topic and your delivery. The size of the crowd is a testament to the interest in the subject matter, and when the interest is satisfied it's an indication of success...We look forward to having you speak again."

HISTORICAL DISASTERS:

Description: New England folklorist John Horrigan presents an overview of the disasters to shake New England including major train wrecks, ship wrecks, aircraft crashes, fires, explosions, bridge collapses, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and blizzards.

Description: New England folklorist John Horrigan presents an overview of the Molasses Flood in Boston on January 15, 1919.

HISTORICAL ASTRONOMICAL AND ATMOSPHERIC EVENTS:

Description: Over a three-night span from November 10th through November 12th, 1833, residents of North America witnessed one of the most spectacular meteor showers in recorded history. Although it was unknown at the time, this came to be known as the Leonids Meteor Shower emanating from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Join backyard astronomer and historical astronomical researcher John Horrigan as he recounts this historical event through newspapers, letters, journals and books of the period. Horrigan will also digress about some other dramatic Leonids showers (1799, 1866, 1966, 2001) and other brilliant historical celestial flurries of meteors, including the Solar Eclipse and Meteor Impact of India (May 10, 2807 B.C.E.); the Lyrid Outbursts of 1803 and 1922 and the Perseid Fusillades of 1839 and 1863. Other memorable astromical rains include the Meteor of 1787, Humboldt and Bonpland's Mexican Rain of Fire of November 12, 1799, The Balls of Fire and Stone Shower of April 26, 1803; The Meteorite of 1807, the Meteor Shower of 1844, The Meteor Shower and Comet of 1862, No. III of August 10, 1862; Alexander Herschel's Spectroscopic Analysis of the Meteor Showers of August 10th and November 14th, 1865; ObservationThe Hungarian Meteor Rain of June 9, 1866, The Meteor Shower of November, 1866, The Arago "Splendid" Meteor Shower of November 14, 1867, The Siasconset Meteor of June 1, 1868, Secchi's Observations of the Meteor Shower of November 1868; The November Star Shower of 1869, The Giacobini Meteor Shower of October, 1933, the Great Leonid Meteor Shower of 1966, The Piezoelectric Fires of Messina, Italy (February 10, 2004); the Peruvian Meteorite (September 15, 2007) and the Great Finnish Superbolide of September 28, 2007.

Description: A complete review of visible and bright comets to cross the skies of Olde New England from 1620 - 2007. Topics include The Comet of 1664; The Comet of February 1666; The Comet of 1680; The Comet of 1776; The Comet of 1798; The Comet of 1805; The Great Comet of 1807; The Great Bright Comet of 1811; The Great Comet of 1819; The Comets of 1825; The Return of Halley's Comet (1835-36); The Great March Daylight Comet of 1843; The Six-Tailed Comet of 1844; Biela's Comet of 1845; Mitchell's Comet of 1847; Comet 1854 IV; Donati's Comet of 1858; The Comet of 1860; The Great Two-Tailed Comet of July 1861; Brorsen's Comet of 1868; Winnecke's Comet of June 13 and 14, 1868; Winnecke's Comet of April 7, 1870; The Great Comet of 1882; The Comet of 1901; The Great January Comet of 1910; Return of Halley's Comet, 1910; Comet Peltier, 1936; Comet Finsler, 1937; Comet Jurlof-Achmarof-Hassel, 1939; Comet Cunningham, 1940; Comet Whipple-Fedtke-Tevzadze, 1942; Comet DeKock-Paraskevopoulos, 1941; The Southern Comet, 1947; The Eclipse Comet of 1948; Comet Mrkos, 1955; Comet Mrkos, 1957; The Arend-Roland Comet of 1957; Comet Burnham, 1959; Comet Wilson-Hubbard, 1961; Comet Seki-Lines, 1962; Comet Ikeya, 1963; Comet Ikeya-Seki, 1965; Comet Tago-Sato-Kosaka, 1969; Comet White-Ortiz-Bolelli, 1970; Comet Bennett, 1970; Comet Bradfield, 1974; Comet Kohoutek of 1973-74; Comet Kobayashi-Berger-Milon, 1975; Comet West of 1976; Comet Bradfield, 1980; Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock, 1983; Comet Halley of 1986; Comet Okazaki-Levy-Rudenko, 1989; Comet Brorsen-Metcalf, 1989; Comet Austin, 1989; Comet Aarseth-Brewington, 1989; Comet Levy, 1990; Comet Swift-Tuttle, 1992; The Jupiter Comet Collision July 16-22, 1994; Comet Hale-Bopp, 1995; Comet Hyakutake, 1996; Comet Wild, 1997; Comet Jaeger, 1998; SOHO COmet, 1998; Giacobini-Zinner, 1998; Comet 1999 Y1; Comet Lynn, 1999; Comet Williams, 1999; Comet Lee, 1999; Comet Linear 2000; Comet Linear A2, 2001; Comet Neat, 2001; Comet Ikeya-Zhang, 2002; Comet Linear T7, 2002; Comet Hoenig, 2002; Comet Macholz, 2004; Comet Bradfield, 2004; Comet McNaught L3, 2005; Comet Swan, 2006; Comet Linear VZ13, 2006; Comet Linear XA1, 2006; Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, Fragments B and C: May, 2006; Comet McNaught P1, 2006; Comet Lovejoy, 2007; Comet LONEOS, 2007, Comet Garradd, 2007 and exploding Comet 17P/Holmes of October 24, 2007

Description: A review of some spectacular eclipses and planetary transits that have been observed in the skies over Olde New England from 1620 - 2006 along with other notable lunar and solar eclipses. Topics include: Zecharia Sitchin's "Nibiru" (c. 3,000 B.C.E. and December 21, 2012); The Mahabharata / Kurukshetra War Thirteen Day Solar and Lunar Eclipses (either 3129 B.C.E., 2559 B.C.E. or 1478 B.C.E.); Solar Eclipse Over Egypt (November 19, 2837 B.C.E.); Solar Eclipse and Meteor Impact of India (May 10, 2807 B.C.E.); Egyptian Solar Eclipse of April 1, 2471 B.C.E.; Solar Eclipse Over Egypt (September 2, 2469 BC); Solar Eclipse of China and Babylonia (2084 B.C.E.); Earliest Recorded Eclipse: Babylonian Saros Cycle Solar Eclipse (October 22, 2134 B.C.E.); Mursili II Solar Eclipse (1312 B.C.E.); Solar Eclipse Of Odysseus Over Ithaca On April 16, 1178 B.C.E.; The First Recorded Solar Eclipse (776 B.C.E.); Assyrian Bur Sagale Eclipse (June 15, 763 B.C.E.); King Nabonassar of Babylon Total Solar Eclipse (747 B.C.E.); The Revelations 6:12 / Archilochus Solar Eclipse of April 6, 648 B.C.E.; Solar Eclipse (625 B.C.E.); Eclipse of Thales (610 B.C.E.); The Battle of the Eclipse (May 28, 585 B.C.E.); The Occulatation of Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury During The Solar Eclipse of September 21, 582 B.C.E.; Solar EclipseEclipse Over The Mediterranean and Syria (May 19, 557 B.C.E.); Solar Eclipse of October 23, 557 B.C.E.; Annular Solar Eclipse of Xerxes (February 17, 478 B.C.E.); The Solar Eclipse of Sparta (August 1, 477 B.C.E.); The Pindar / Thebans Eclipse of April 30, 463 B.C; The Peloponnesian War (Siege of Syracuse) Lunar Eclipse (August 27, 413 B.C.E.); The Cicero / Ennius Solar Eclipse (June 21, 400 B.C.E.); The Battle of Zarma (Second Punic War) Total Solar Eclipse (218 B.C.E.); The 202nd Olympiad (4th Year) Solar Eclipse; The Solar Eclipse of The Macedonian / Roman War (Polybius) (June 21-22, 168 B.C.E.); The Crucifixion Eclipse (33 A.D.); The Hydatius Solar Eclipse of Portugal (July 19, 418); The Hydatius Solar Eclipse of Portugal (December 23, 447); The Chronicle of Ireland Solar Eclipse (June 29. 512 A.D.); The Total Solar Eclipse That Killed Emperor Louis (May 5, 840 A.D.); The First Recorded Solar Corona Eclipse (940 A.D.); The Battle of Stiklestad Solar Eclipse (Summer of 1030); A transit of Mars across Jupiter (September 12, 1170); The Western Europe Labourer's Double-Sleep Solar Eclipse (May 14, 1230); Aztec Transit of Venus (November 23, 1396); The Siege of Constantanople's Rising Full Moon Eclipse of May 22, 1453); The Lunar Eclipse of Columbus (February 29, 1504); Transit of Venus on May 25/26, 1518; Transit of Venus on May 23, 1526; Fontana's "Venusian Dark Spots" (1545); The Transit of Mercury on November 7, 1631; Transit of Venus: December 7, 1631; The Great Colonial Hurricane Eclipse (August 18, 1635); Transit of Venus: December 4, 1639; Fontana's "Variable Venusian Terrain" (1643); Transit of Mercury: November 3, 1651; Transit of Mercury: May 3, 1661; Burattini's "Dark Patch" on Venus (1665); Cassini's "Bright and Dark Patches" of Venus (1666-1667); Transit of Mercury: November 7, 1677; Cassini's Venusian Moon of 1672 and 1686; Lahire's Inner Crescent of Venus (1700); Jupiter occults Neptune (September 19, 1702); Mercury transits Jupiter (July 20, 1705); Mercury occults Uranus (July 14, 1708); Mercury transits Jupiter (October 4, 1708); The London Total Solar Eclipse of 1715; Francesco Bianchini's Map of Venusian Oceans and Continents (1726); Venus occults Mercury (May 28, 1737); Short's "Venutian Moon" (1740); Transit of Mercury: November 5, 1743; Transit of Mercury: May 6, 1753; Tobias Mayer's "Venusian Moon" (1759); Montaigne's "Venusian Moon" (1761); Transit of Venus: June 6, 1761; Copenhagen Astronomer's "Venusian Moon" (March, 1764); Horrebow's "Venusian Moon" (1768); Transit of Venus: June 3/4, 1769; Solar Eclipse of June 4, 1769; Transit of Mercury: November 9, 1769; Venus transits Saturn (October 29, 1771); "Eclipses of The American Revolution": (The Partial Solar Eclipse of August 14, 1776, The Lunar Eclipse of May 29, 1779, The Solar Eclipse of October 27, 1780, The Lunar Eclipse of November 11, 1780, The Lunar Eclipse of March 29, 1782, The Solar Eclipse of April 12, 1782 and the Transit of Mercury on November 12, 1782); The Total Lunar Eclipse of 1776; The Partial Lunar Eclipse of 1777; The Partial Lunar Eclipse of 1778; The Trenton Eclipse of 1778; The Rogers Clark Solar Eclipse of June 24, 1778; Schroter's "Venusian Filmy Streak" (February 28, 1788); Mercury occults Uranus (July 21, 1793); Transit of Mercury: May 7, 1799; Transit of Mercury: November 9, 1802; The Great Solar Eclipse of 1806; Vidal's Rotation of Venus (October, 1807); Mercury transits Saturn (December 9, 1808); The Annular Eclipse of September 17, 1811; Franz von Paula Gruithuisen's "Polar Caps" on Venus (1813); Transit of Mercury: November 12, 1815; The Sunspots of 1816; Venus transits Jupiter (January 3, 1818); Transit of "Vulcan" by Gruithuisen (June 26, 1819); Transit of "Vulcan" by Pastorff (October 23, 1822); Transit of Mercury: November 5, 1822; Transit of "Vulcan" by Pastorff (July 24 and 25, 1823); The Annular Eclipse of February 12, 1831; Transit of Mercury: May, 1832; Transit of "Vulcan" by Pastorff (six times in 1834); The Partial Eclipse of November 30, 1834; Transit of Mercury: November 7, 1835; Radiated Light of November, 1835; Annular Eclipse of May 15, 1836; Transit of "Vulcan" by Pastorff (October 18, 1836); Transit of "Vulcan" by Pastorff (November 1, 1836); Transit of "Vulcan" by Pastorff (February 16, 1837); The Transit of Mercury (May 8, 1845); The Partial Eclipse of April 25, 1846; Transit of Mercury: November 9, 1848; The Partial Solar Eclipse of July 28, 1851; The Clouded Out Major Solar Eclipse of May 26, 1854; Lescarbault's and Le Verrier's Hypothetical Transit of "Vulcan" (March 26, 1859 and December, 1859); Richard Covington's "Intra-Mercurial Planetary Transit" (c.1860); The Great Coronal Mass Ejection Solar Eclipse (186); The "Intra-Mercurial Planetary Transit" of F.A.R. Russell and Friends (January 29, 1860); The Great Spanish Solar Eclipse of July 18, 1860; Transit of Mercury: November 12, 1861; Mr Lummis' "Intra-Mercurial Planetary Transit" (March 22, 1862); Aristide Coumbrary's "Unexpected Planetary Transit" (May 8, 1865); The Annular Eclipse of October 19, 1865; The Great Total Solar Eclipse of August 18, 1868; Transit of Mercury: November 5, 1868; The Great Total Solar Eclipse of August 7, 1869; The Great Total Solar Eclipse of December 22, 1870; Bogel and Lohse's Venusian Polar Caps (1871); Venusian Mountians Observations: DeVico, Langdon, Denning, Zenger, Van Ertborn (1841 - 1881); Tacchini and Riccò's Venusian Atmosphere (1874); Schiaparelli's Venusian Polar Caps (1877-1892); Transit of Venus: December 9, 1874; The Annular Eclipse of September 29, 1875; Transit of Mercury: May 6, 1878; The Total Solar Eclipse of July 29, 1878; Watson and Swift's Mysterious Planetary Transit During the Solar Eclipse of July 29, 1878; Transit of Mercury: November 7, 1881; Transit of Venus: December 6, 1882; The Berlin Solar Eclipe of August 19, 1887; M. Paul Stroobant's "Venutian Moon" (1887); Transit of Mercury: May 9, 1891; Scheiner's Venusian Atmosphere (1892); Transit of Mercury: November 10, 1894; The Forenoon Eclipse of July 29, 1897; Lowell's Canals of Venus (1897); The Eclipse of May 28, 1900; The Appearance of Nova Persei (1901); Transit of Mercury: November 14, 1907; Transit of Mercury: November 7, 1914; C. E. Housden Inhabited Venus (1915); Tennant's Rotation of Venue (1918); The Eddington Relativity Solar Eclipse of May 29, 1919; Svante August Arrhenius' Venusian Swamp (1918); Transit of Mercury: May 8, 1924; The Total Solar Eclipse of January 24, 1925; Transit of Mercury: November 10, 1927; The Near Eclipse Totality of August 31st, 1932; The Partial Transit of Mercury, May 11, 1937; Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Carson of Venus" (1939); Transit of Mercury: November 11, 1940; The Partial Eclipse of July 9, 1945; The Eclipse Comet of 1948; Transit of Mercury: November 14, 1953; The Eclipsed Eclipse of June 30, 1954; Fred Hoyle's Venusian Oceans of Oil (1955); Transit of Mercury: May, 1957; "Queen of Outer Space" (1958); The Sunrise Eclipse of October 1, 1959; Transit of Mercury: November 7, 1960; The Total Solar Eclipse of March 7, 1970; Henry C Courten's Seven Solar Eclipse Objects (June 15, 1970); Transit of Mercury: May 9, 1970; The "You're So Vain" Total Solar Eclipse (July 10, 1972); The African Supersonic Concorde Total Eclipse (June 30, 1973); Transit of Mercury: November 10, 1973; The Iranian Earthquake Eclipse (September 16, 1978); The Lunar Eclipse of July 6, 1982; The World Series Lunar Eclipse of October 28, 1985; The World Series Lunar Eclipse of October 17, 1986; Transit of Mercury: November 13, 1986; The Annular Eclipse of January 15, 1991; The Total Eclipse of July 11, 1991; The Annular Eclipse of January 4, 1992; The Total Solar Eclipse of June 30, 1992; The Trans-Neptunian Object 15760 (1992 QB); Transit of Mercury: November 6, 1993; The Annular Solar Eclipse of May 10, 1994; The November 15, 1999 Grazing Transit of Mercury; The Lunar Eclipse of May 15, 2003; The May 7th, 2003 Transit of Mercury; Transit of Venus: June 8, 2004; The World Series Lunar Eclipse of October 27, 2004 and the Transit of Mercury on November 8, 2006

Description: A unique look at the spectacular “Great Aurora of 1938” which was the most widely viewed display in the written history of the Northern Lights. It was seen from several continents and was in view from January 25th through the 28th in 1938. Some said it was the precursor to World War II. In addition to that aurora, some dazzling Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and Rocket Barium Releases to flitter across the skies from antiquity to present times will be examined. There will also be a review of widespread radio and power grid disruptions caused by the Aurora Borealis. Topics include: The Chinese Auroras (2000 B.C.E.); The Aristotle Auroras of 349 and 344 BC; The Aurora and the Death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC; The Roman Aurora of 37 AD; The Scottish Meteor Aurora (93 A.D.); The Aurora and the Defeat of Attila the Hun at Catalaunic Fields, 451 AD; The Gregory of Tours Aurora in 585 AD; The Aurora of 1192; North England's Holinshed's Chronicle Aurora (1235); Norse Chronicle ('Kings Mirror') Aurora (1250); The Nuremberg Aurora of October 5, 1591; The Johannes Kepler Aurora, 1607; The John Winthrop Aurora of 1643; The Pressberg, Hungary Aurora of February 10, 1681; The Great European Aurora of March 17, 1716; De Mairan's Measured Aurora (1726); The Aurora Borealis of 1719; Mairan Report of 1745 Southern Aurora (from Capt. Don Ulloa), 1750; The John Winthrop Aurora of May 1st, 1775; The Luminous Arch of May, 1781; The Luminous Arch of August 28, 1827 ; Radiated Light of November, 1835; Aurora of July 1, 1837; The London Aurora of September 15, 1839; The Great Auroral 'Earth Currents' Telegraph Disruption (1848); The Northern Lights of February, 1852; The Northwest Passage Expedition Aurora of 1853; The Great North American Aurora of August 28, 1859; The Zodical Lights of Angstrom (March, 1867); The Great Russian, Western Europe and United States Aurora of April 15, 1869; The Aurora of October 6, 1869; The Lennep Aurora and Australian "Red Streamers" of April 5, 1870; The European Aurora Borealis of October 24, 1870 and The "Auroral Crown" of October 25, 1870; The George Kennar Siberian Aurora of 1871; The Great India, Cuba, Paris and Athens Zenith Aurora of February 4, 1872; Sophus Tromhole Aurora of 1885; The Edward Ellis Aurora of 1894; The Great Klondike Gold Rush Auroras of 1896-1902; The Great Aurora of 1908; The Great Singapore Aurora of September 25, 1909; The Frederick Cook Aurora of 1911; The Great Aurora of June 16, 1915; The Oslo and Washington Northern Lights of March 22 and 23, 1920; The World-Wide Aurora of 1921; The Great Samoan and Jamaican Aurora of May 14 and 15, 1921; The Great Scandinavian Aurora of January 26, 1926; The World War Precursor Aurora: "The Great Aurora" (seen over the Azores, North Africa, Europe, North America and Norway from January 25 - 28, 1938); The Proton Aurora Discovery (1939); The Great Aurora of September 18, 1941; The Great Alaskan Aurora of February 24-25, 1956; The Great Mexican Auroras of September 13th and 22nd, 1957; The Great North American-Russian-European Radio Outage Aurora of February 10-11, 1958; The Great European and American Aurora Radio Outage of July 8, 1958; The Great Canadian Aurora of September 3-4, 1958; The Great Aurora of July 15, 1959; The Rochester Aurora of August 1st, 1959; The Great Aurora of September 3rd and 4th, 1959; The Great Aurora of November 27, 1959; The Great Aurora and Global Shortwave Radio Disruption of November 13, 1960; The Fargo Aurora of August 19 and 20, 1963; The Lake Placid Aurora of July 8, 1966; The Saint Paul Aurora of September 3rd, 1966; The Great Aurora of May 25, 1967; The Great Aurora of March 23-24, 1969; The Pompton Planes, New Jersey Aurora of September 29, 1969; The Great Aurora of March 8, 1970; The Great Aurora of August 17, 1970; The Birmingham, Ohio Aurora of October 17th, 1970; The Great Aurora of December 17-18, 1971; The Great Lakes Aurora of June 17 and 18, 1972; The Great Aurora Cable Disruption and Power Grid Glitch of August 4, 1972; The Toronto Aurora of July 5 and 6, 1974; The Bucyrus, Kansas Aurora of May 2 and 3, 1976; The Great Morning Aurora of December 1 and 2, 1977; The Solar Flare of April 11, 1978 and The Aurora and Disruption That Never Happened; The Walla Walla Aurora of August 28, 1978; The Red Aurora of December 19, 1980; The Thermal and Boulder Aurora of March 5, 1981; The Tucson Aurora of April 10, 1981; The Space Shuttle Aurora of April 12, 1981; The Arizona Aurora of April 13, 1981; The Massive Solar Electron and Proton Bombardment of July 13, 1982; The Bright Aurora of April 20, 1985; The Great Aurora of February 8, 1986; The Rare Red Alaskan Aurora of March 12 and 13, 1989; The Great Geomagnetic Storm and Quebec Blackout of March 13, 1989; The Great Aurora of November 8, 1991; The Aurora of May 4, 1998; The Great Aurora of April 7, 2000; The Bastille Day Sun Storm of July 15, 2000; The Great Aurora of March 31, 2001; The Great Mid-Atlantic Aurora of November 5, 2001; The Great ISS Duck-and-Cover Aurora of November 6, 2001; The Great Aurora and Satellite Knockout of October 29 and 30, 2003; The Great European and Greek Aurora of November 20, 2003 and The Great Aurora of November 7, 2004

Description: Richard Carrington was busily observing a prominent group of sunspots on September 1, 1859, when suddenly "two patches of intensely bright and white light broke out." The patches brightened rapidly and then decayed again and by good chance, the observation was confirmed by another English astronomer. Carrington had seen a flare, of the rare variety that is visible in white light (only about 50 are known). No more than 17 hours later a great magnetic storm erupted, with aurora seen as far as Cuba. Carrington noted the connection, but cautioned that "one swallow does not make a summer." In addition to this benchmark observation, we’ll take a unique look at some epic gigantic solar prominences and Gamma Ray Bursts and examine their subsequent impact on weather, communications, human behavior and power grids. Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and Great Solar Prominences are frequent during the current Solar Maximum and our star “Sol” is exhibiting a rash of sun spots. Topics include: The Chinese Solar Prominence of 1400 B.C.E.; Wolf Sunspot Minimum And Vanishing of Aurora (1290); Great European Aurora (1716); De Mairan's Measured Aurora (1726); The Luminous Arch of May, 1781; The Sunspots of 1816; The Luminous Arch of August 28, 1827; Brewster's Atmospheric Absorption and Solar Spectrum of 1832; Radiated Light of November, 1835; Fog and Vapors of September 18, 1838; The Great Auroral 'Earth Currents' Telegraph Disruption (1848); Observation of the Variable Star Algol in 1856; The Spiral Solar Whirlpool of Secchi (May 5, 1857); The Solar Spots of Secchi (April 3, 1858); The Great Carrington Solar Prominences of September 1 and 2, 1859; Weiss's Sunspot Eclipse/Transits (March 12, 1864); Nasmyth's Solar Spots (June 5, 1864); Janssen's Spectroscope Observations at Faulhorn, Geneva (October, 1864); The Great Solar Spot of 1865; Secchi's Solar Bands (January 6, 1869); Huggins Daytime Prominences of February 13, 1869; Lockyer's Sunspots of February 20, 1869; Lockyer's Solar Cyclone (March 14, 1869); Secchi's "Fine Group of Solar Spots" (March, 1869); Haag's Sun Spot Eclipse/Transits (April 13, 15, 16, 1869); Lockyer's Solar Limb Eruption of April 21, 1869; Lockyer's Greenish-Blue Prominences of May 12 ,1869; Zollner's Solar Prominences of July 1, 1869; Zollner's Solar Prominences of August 29, 1869; C.A. Young's "Extended Chain of Prominences" (September 17, 1869); Sunspot Observations of C.A. Young's "Brilliant Prominences and Proturburances" of October 7 and 8, 1869; C.A. Young's Sunspot Observations of April 9 and 19, 1870; C.A. Young's Bright Sunshine Prominence Limb Photographs of September 28, 1870; The Great World War Precursor Aurora (seen over the Azores, North Africa, Europe, North America and Norway from January 25 - 28, 1938); The Great North American-Russian-European Radio Outage Aurora of February 10-11, 1958; The Great European and American Aurora Radio Outage of July 8, 1958; The Great Aurora and Global Shortwave Radio Disruption of November 13, 1960; The Great Northeast Blackout of November 9, 1965; The First Gamma Ray Burst Detection (GRB 670702) of July 2, 1967; The Great Solar Prominence of August 3rd, 1972; The Great Aurora Cable Disruption and Power Grid Glitch of August 4, 1972; The Distortion of the Jet Stream and the Severe Winter of 1975-75; The Solar Flare of April 11, 1978 and The Aurora and Disruption That Never Happened; The Massive Solar Electron and Proton Bombardment of July 13, 1982; The Great Geomagnetic Storm and Quebec Blackout of March 13, 1989; The Great Solar Prominence of August 16, 1989; The Great Solar Prominence of July 9, 1996; The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 970228) of February 28, 1997; The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 970508) of May 8, 1997; The Most Energetic Event In The Universe (GRB 971214), December 14, 1997; The Unusual X-Ray Burst of XTE J0421+56 on March 31, 1998; The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 990123) of January 23, 1999; The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 980425) of July, 2000; The Bastille Day Sun Storm of July 15, 2000; The Great Solar Prominence of April 2, 2001; The Double CME of April 11, 2001; The Great ISS Duck-and-Cover Aurora of November 6, 2001; The X-Ray Bursts of 2002; The Great Solar Prominence of January 22, 2002; The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 030329A) of March 29, 2003; The Great Solar Double CME Bursts of October 26, 2003; The Great Solar Prominence of October 28, 2003; The Great Aurora and Satellite Knockout of October 29 and 30, 2003; The Great Solar Prominence of November 4, 2003; The X-Ray Burster of Pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937 on June 29, 2004; The Magnetar SGR 1806-20 and Ionosphere Disruption of December 27, 2004; The Great Solar Prominence of January 20, 2005; The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 050509B) of May 9, 2005; The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 050724) of July 24, 2005; The Most Distant Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 050904) of September 4, 2005; The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 060218) of February 18, 2006 and The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 060505) of May 5, 2006.

Description: Beginning on August 25, 1835, a series of six newspaper articles in the New York Sun falsely announced the discovery of life on the moon by prominent astronomer John Herschel. Arguably, this was the birth of "sensationalism" and the Sun newspaper's sales skyrocketed. We'll examine a littany of "life on the moon" claims, allusions and illusions including the discussion of Trans Lunar Phenomena (TLP); A 300-year history of observations of lights on the Moon; The "Wow! Signal" of August 15, 1977; The Vrillon/Ashtar Gallactic Command British Television Disruption of November 26, 1977; The "Hale-Bopp Companion" Tragedy of 1997; The Eq Pegasi Signal Hoax of 1998; The "SHGb02+14a" SETI Signal of February, 2003; A Brief History of The Space Race (with the actual Radio Moscow Announcement of the Sputnik Launch); The Apollo Space Program (with an aside about hoaxed Apollo Moon Landings); a short history of the "Man on the Moon" legend; a brief conversation about alleged artificial structures on the Moon; and digression about the classic novels such as H.G. Wells' "First Men In The Moon" (1901), Jules Verne's "From Earth To The Moon" (1866) and Edward Everett Hale's "The Brick Moon" (1869).

Description: While viewing the opposition of Mars through his telescope in 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli catalogued what he interpreted as an extensive series of canals ("canali") that were later confirmed by other observers. Since then, speculation about life on Mars has intensified. We'll examine a littany of modern "life on Mars" claims, delusions and illusions including the discussion of the Orson Welles' War of the Worlds Radio Show Hoax of 1938; The Face on Mars of July, 1976 (Viking), May 24, 2001 (Mars Global Surveyor) and September, 2006 (Mars Express); The Viking Probes (I and II); other Martian probes (USA and USSR); Mariner 3 through 9; Phobos 1 and 2; The Phoenix Mars Lander of 2008; The "Great Galactic Ghoul"; Martian Polar Ice Caps; Water on Mars; A Catalogue of Mars' Meteorites (including ALH84001,0); The Mars Rover; and a brief conversation about alleged artificial structures on Mars. We'll look at popular literature proclaiming "life on Mars" including H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds (1898), Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars (1912), C.S. Lewis' Out of The Silent Planet (1938) and Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles (1950) and popular television programs ("My Favorite Martian" 1963-66) and movies ("Robinson Crusoe on Mars" - 1964); Le Verrier's purported discovery of the planet "Vulcan" on Janury 2, 1860 and David Raup's and Jack Sepkoski's claim of the "death" star "Nemesis" (1984).

Description: Topics include: Near-Earth Supernovae; IC 443: Neutron Star CXOU J061705.3+222127 (30,000 B.C.E.); Two Chinese Novae (1400 B.C.E.); SN 185 (185 A.D.); SN 1006 (May 1, 1006); SN 1054 - The Crab Nebula (1054); SN 1151 (1151); Tyco's Nova: SN 1572 (1572); Kepler's Star: SN 1604 (October 9, 1604); Hind's Supernova of 1848; T Coronae Borealis "Northern Crown" (May 12, 1866); U Geminorum (1885); Alvan Clark's Sirius B Observations (1862); Janssen's "Aqueous Vapor" of Antares (1864); Supernova S Andromedae 1885A (1885); T Aurigae (Nova Aurigae 1892); SS Cygni (1897); RS Ophiuchi (1898); V1059 Sagittarii (1898); V606 Aquilae (1899); GK Persei (1901); DM Geminorum (Nova Geminorum 1903); V604 Aquilae (Nova Aquilae 1905); SN 1907A (1907); DI Lacertae (Nova Lacertae 1910); DN Geminorum (Nova Geminorum 1912); T Pyxidis (1914); V603 Aquilae (Nova Aquilae 1918); V849 Ophiuchi (Nova Ophiuchi 1919); HR Lyrae (1919); V476 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1920); RR Pictoris (1925); Dwarf Nova DM Lyrae (1928); RS Ophiuchi (1933); DQ Herculis (Nova Herculis 1934); CP Lacertae (Nova Lacertae 1936); BT Monocerotis (Nova Monocerotis 1939); CP Puppis (Nova Puppis 1942); V500 Aquilae (Nova Aquilae 1943); T Coronae Borealis (1946); SN 1947A: Cassiopeia A (1947); DK Lacertae (Nova Lacertae 1950); RS Ophiuchi (1958); V446 Herculis (1960); V533 Herculis (1963); RS Ophiuchi (1967); FH Serpentis (Nova Serpentis 1970); RCW103 (1974); V373 Scuti (1975); V1500 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1975); NQ Vulpeculae (October 21, 1976); V1668 Cygni (1978); The Powerful Large Magellanic Cloud Gamma Ray Burst of March 5, 1979 (SGR 0525-66); QU Vulpeculae (1984); RS Ophiuchi (1985); SN 1986G (1986); V842 Centauri (1986); SN 1987A (1987); SGR 1900+14 (1979, 1986); Luminous Red Nova M31 RV (1988); V838 Herculis (1991); V1974 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1992); SN 1994D (1994); Luminous Red Nova V4332Sgr (1994); Dwarf Nova DM Lyrae (July, 1996); GRB 9702228 (February 28, 1997); GRB 971214 (December 14, 1997); SGR 1627-41 (August 27, 1998); SN 1998bw (1998); GRB 990123 (January 23, 1999); V382 Velorum (1999); V1494 Aquilae (1999); Variable Star V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) (2002); Champagne Supernova: SN2003fg (2003); SN 2003B; SN 2004dj (2004); Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 1806-20 (December 27, 2004); 367 Supernovae (2005); Supernova 2005B (2005); Gamma Ray Burst 50509b Short Duration GRB (May 9, 2005); Gamma Ray Burst 050904 Long Duration GRB (September 4 ,2005); Supernova 2005bc (2005); Supernova 2005cs (2005); Supernova 2005df (2005); 551 Supernovae (2006); RS Ophiuchi (2006); Luminous Red Nova M85 OT2006-1 (2006); V1280 Scorpii (February, 2007); Gamma Ray Burst 060218 and SN 2006aj (February 18, 2006); SN 2006gy (2006); SN 2006F (2006) and SN 2006X (2006).

Topics include: The Tunguska Explosion of 1908; 4581 Asclepius (1989 FC) on March 23, 1989 (1,000-foot diameter missed the Earth by 400,000 miles); Asteroid (29075) 1950 DA (diameter of 1 kilometer) was lost after its discovery (in 1950) and then rediscovered on December 31, 2000 (and may have a potential Earth impact on March 16, 2880); On March 18, 2004, LINEAR announced a 30 meter asteroid 2004 FH which would pass the Earth that day at only 42,600 km (26,500 miles), about one-tenth the distance to the moon, and the closest miss ever noticed. On June 6, 2002 an object with an estimated diameter of 10 meters collided with Earth. The collision occurred over the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Libya, at approximately 34°N 21°E and the object exploded in mid-air. The energy released was estimated (from infrasound measurements) to be equivalent to 26 kilotons of TNT, comparable to a small nuclear weapon. Finallly, on December 20, 2007, the Near Earth Object Program at Jet Propulsion Laboratories announced that Asteroid 2007 WD5 had a 1 in 75 chance of colliding with Mars on January 30, 2008.<

Description: A unique look at some Sun Dogs, Arctic Mirages, Superior Mirages, Inferior Mirages, Novaya Zemlya Effect, Highway Mirages, Fata Morgana, Three Image Mirages, Land Loomings, Cities in the Sky, Will o' the Wisp, Jack-O-Lantern, Blue Jets, Red Sprites, Moon Halos, The Green Flash, Noctilucent Clouds, False Dawn and The Zodiacal Light over New England since 1620: "Looming Days In Nantucket": (May, 1781; The Wonderful Mirage of December, 1895; April, 1875; in 1868; St. Elmo's Fire of 1840; The Luminous Arch of August 28, 1827 and in May of 1781), The New Haven Spectre Ship of 1647 and The Man in the Sky of 1682.

Description: When an unexplained mid-day darkness fell over New England, the book The Great Controversy describes May 19th, 1780 with this stunning, but overly-dramatic conclusion: "Since the time of Moses no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has ever been recorded". It sent clergymen to their pulpits and colonists to their pews. "Repent" and "the end is nigh" harkened in the odd noon darkness. Birds nested and candles and fires were lit, for surely the end of the world had arrived. By the following morning, the sun was back and beaming brightly but the event was recorded for posterity in many journals, books, poems and newspapers. Daytime skies for several days prior to the event had been unusually coloured with a dirty yellow tinge that featured a reddish-hued sun. No one in New England was fully prepared for the darkness that descended over the region on the morning of May 19th. Join historical astronomical researcher John Horrigan as he reviews recorded history from the days and weeks following May 19th, 1780 as he tries to determine whether it was it a solar eclipse, volcanic ash or smoke from a raging forest fire in Canada that panicked the colonists of America. He will also recount other famous dark days of including: The Utah Smoke Haze of July 13th and 31st, 2007; Atlanta's Red Moon and Dark Day (May 27, 2007); The Baghdad Oil Well Fires of 2003; The New England Opaque Days of July, 2002; The Burning of Kuwait in 1991; Arctic Sea Smoke (1983); The Brilliant Sunsets of December, 1982; Mt. St. Helens Eruption (May 18, 1980); Tornado Green Days of the Midwest (1960 - 1980); Jacksonville's Dark Day (April 30, 1971); The Blue Sun of 1950 (September 22-24, 1950); Brown Days of the Dust Bowl (April, 1934); London's Dark Day (October 24, 1933); The Yellow Day of 1916 (July, 1916); The Big Blowup of 1910 (due to the massive forest fires in the West it caused a dark day in Chicago on April 12th); Krakatoa's Ash Out (1883); The Yellow Day of New England (of September 6th, 1881); The Dark Day of Baghdad (May 20, 1857); The Black Clouds of Forest Hills, Arkansas, 1847; The Smokey Skies of October 8th and 9th, 1825; The Black Rain of Montreal ( November 23, 1819); The Year Without A Summer (1816); Canadian Dark Day (July 3, 1814); James Fenimore Cooper's Dark Day and the Bridgewater Eclipse (June 16th, 1806); Dark Days of Canada (October 15 and 16, 1785); Detroit's Dark Day (October 16th, 1762); The Strange and Extraordinary Fog of Connecticut, 1758; The Dark Day of August 9th, 1732; Yale's Dark Day (1722); The Dark Day of October 21, 1716; The Dark Day of 533 AD; The Dark Day of Vesuvius (August 24, 79 AD); The Larissa Dark Day of 556 BC; The Exodus Dark Day, Chinese, African, Australian and Southwestern United States Dust Storms as well as other recorded atmospheric solar obviations.

Description: A unique look at strange unexplained rains of blood, hay drifts, red rains, cobwebs, pennies, nondescript gelatinous substances (Pwdre Ser), fish falls, frog falls, angel hair, dead bird clusters, phantom stone throwers and rogue falling ice chunks.

Description: A historical review of dangerous air pollution: Arvin, California - The Smog Capital of America (2007); The Atlanta Smog Haze of May 27, 2006; The Mysterious Fog of Lagos, Nigeria (October, 2005); The Bay of Fundy Songbird Killer Fog Bank (June, 2004); The Iraqi Oil Well Fires (March - May, 2003); The Culham, Oxfordshire Nosebleed Fog (May 3, 1989); The Foggy July (1967); New York Killer Smog (November 24, 1966); The New York Killer Weather Inversion (1965); New York Killer Smog (1963); The London Killer Smog (1962); The London Killer Peasouper of 1956; The Los Angeles School Smog-Out (October, 1954); The New York City Killer Smog (November, 1953); "The Big Smoke" - London Killer Smog (December 5, 1952); The Poza Rica, Mexico Killer Smog (November 24, 1950); The Killer Fog Of London (1948); The Donora Smog (October 26 - 31, 1948); The First Smog of Los Angeles (1943); The Augusta Paper Mill Pollution Action Club (1941); The 1939 St. Louis Gagger; The 1930 Meuse River Valley Asphyxiation; Green Fog of Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire (September 6, 1922); The Glasgow Killer Smoke Accumulation (1909); The 76 Hour Fog (1908); The 1907 Copper Basin Smelt Smog; Carnegie's Smoke Nuisance (1898); The 1892 Killer Fog of London; The 1891 London Gasp; The London Choker of 1882; The London Killer Inversion (January, 1880); The Killer Smoke of London (December, 1873); The Blue Mist of 1866; Glaisher's Blue Mist Observations From a Balloon (1862); The Great Stink (1858); Farraday's Filth of the Thames (July 7, 1855); The 1854 Cholera Miasma; Dickens' Bleak House Black Drizzle (1853); Red Mist at Polperro, Cornwall (February 15, 1837); The 1834 Thames Coal Tar Dump; The 1804 Pittsburgh Coal Smoke Problem; Dr. Aubrey's Evil, Malevolent Miasma (1717); Chimney Sweep Cancer (1775); The 1754 Noxious Stinking Fog of West Africa; The Inconvenience of the Aer and Smoake of London (1661); 1630 Milan Poisoning Scare; 1590 Westminster Palace Smokeout; Edward I's London Coal Burning Ban (1306)

Description: A historical review of lethal air contamination by strange entities: Tokyo Sarin Gas Attack (1995); The Gassing of the Kurds (March, 1988); Lake Nyos Noxious Gas Cloud (August 21, 1986); The Mad Gasser of Strongsville, OH (1962); The Mad Gasser of Houston (1961); The Mad Gasser of Canastota, SD (early 1950s); The Mad Gasser of Coatesville, PA (Feb. 1, 1944); The Mad Gasser of Mattoon (August - September, 1944); The Mad Gasser of West Bainbridge, Georgia (December, 1944); The Mad Gasser of Botetourt County, VA (December 22, 1933 - 1934); The Mad Gasser of Fullerton (June 28, 1927); The Standard Oil Tetraethyl Insanity Attacks (October 24, 1924) and Gas Attacks of the Great European War (1914-1918).

Description: The Northeast Blackout of November 9, 1965 impacted Ontario, Canada, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, and New Jersey in the United States. Around 25 million people and 80,000 square miles (207,000 km²) were left without electricity for up to twelve hours. This is an assessment of the cause (human error) and the impact of the blackout, preventative measures that were developed later because of it and the heightened birth rate nine months later. Topics include: The Great New York City Blackout of July 13-14, 1977; The Solar Flare of April 11, 1978 and The Aurora and Disruption That Never Happened; The Great French Blackout of December 19, 1978; The Winnipeg-Minneapolis Aurora Power Glitch of October, 1980; The Massive Solar Electron and Proton Bombardment of July 13, 1982; The Great British Blackout and the Great Storm of October 15 and 16, 1987; The Great Geomagnetic Storm and Quebec Blackout of March 13, 1989; The Great Western Blackout of August 11, 1996; The Great Northeast North American Ice Storm Blackout of January 4 -10, 1998; The Auckland Blackout of February 20 – March 27, 1998; The Victoria Australia Gas Explosion Blackout of September 25, 1998; The San Francisco Blackout of December 8 ,1998; The Great Quebec - New England Blackout of July 5, 1999; The Great Taiwan Tower Collapse Blackout of July 29, 1999; The Great Southern Portugal Stork Blackout of May 9, 2000; The California Rolling Blackouts of 2000 and 2001; The Bastille Day Sun Storm of July 15, 2000; The Massive Northeast Blackout of August 14, 2003; The Great London Blackout of August 28, 2003; The Great Blackout of Southern Malaysia on September 2, 2003; The Hurricane Isabel Blackout of September 19, 2003; The Danish-Swedish Blackout of September 23, 2003; The Great Italian Blackout of September 28, 2003; The San Francisco Blackout of December 20, 2003; The Great Chicago Thunderstorm Blackout of August 23, 2007, The California Labor Day Blackouts of 2007 and an examination of several blackouts around the globe from 2004 through 2007.

Description: A unique look at strange unexplained sounds, sonic booms and hums heard by residents of Hueytown, NY, Kokomo, IN, Taos, NM, Moodus, CT, San Andreas Fault, Yellowstone National Park, San Luis Valley, CO, Slovenia, Avebury, UK, Bristol, UK, Auckland, NZ, Thomaston, CT and Largs, Scotland. The Barisal Guns will be discussed with other "phantom cannon" sounds. They have been reported from Passamaquoddy Bay in southwestern New Brunswick, in Belgium and Scotland, at Cedar Keys, Florida, Fort Wayne, IN, Richmond, VA, North Norfolk, UK, Lough Neagh in Ireland, and in Western Australia, and in Victoria State. They were reported on an Adriatic island in 1824, at Franklinville, NY in 1896, and in northern Georgia. Lewis and Clark heard then on 4 July 1808. Though often heard at coastal locations and beside lakes, they were also heard away from bodies of water, and were described as booms, like thunder. In January, 1999, a loud boom at 12:15 a.m. disturbed the residents of Colorado Springs and Denver. Some witnesses said the noise was accompanied by a flash of light in the sky. There was no electrical storm. Although it could have been a sonic boom, the military denied any military activity in the area. On January 10, 1999, dozens of people in Fairfield, Ohio reported a stunning, explosive sound. No cause was ever discovered. Thousands of homes were rattled by two huge, mysterious booms 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles just before 10 p.m. in May of 1998. Residents described the sounds as explosions, earthquake noises, and thuds. The two booms occurred about five minutes apart. A mysterious boom reverberated through Narragansett Bay, R.I. on August 1, 1998 at 9:30 p.m. Investigating officials could not find the source of the noise. On Sept. 16, 1997, the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was rocked by a boom that shook the ground and registered 1.1 on the Richter scale. Readings from ground-monitoring equipment showed that the energy did not come from the air, ruling out a sonic boom. On December 17, 1997, a huge aerial blast rattled windows and blew open storm doors in Rogersville, Mo., a town 13 miles east of Springfield. Again, the Air Force denied the possibility of a sonic boom caused by one of its aircraft. In September 1990, there were reports of unexplained detonations on Sunset Beach in South Carolina. In 1996, at Lake Seneca in New York State, loud explosions that sounded like thunderclaps occurred. They continue to this day.

Description: A unique look at some bright and unexplained "natural" lights: St. Elmo's fire, Will-Of-The-Wisp, Ball Lightning, Earthquake Lights, Marsh and Swamp Gas, Jack O'Lantern, The Hessdalen Valley Lights, The Longendale Lights, The Min-Min Lights, The Silver Cliff Lights, The Ontario Road Ghost Lights, The Maco Station Lights, The Gurdon Light, The Hebron Light, The Big Thicket/Bragg Road/Saratoga Ghost Light, The Dovedale Light, The Brown Mountain Lights, The Pallatine Lights, The Marfa Lights, The Surrency Spook Lights, The Seneca Ghost-Light, The Neosho Light, The Hornet (Joplin/Tri-State) Spook-Light, the Light Balls of Marley Woods and the Dover Lights.

HISTORICAL AVIATION AND HISTORICAL MILITARY:

Description: A look at lighter-than-air accidents from the Montgolfier Brothers to the Florida Goodyear Blimp crash of June 17, 2005.

Description: An examination of air raids over America and England, actual or imagined, including the "Mystery Airship Flap of 1896-1897", The "Scareship Flap of 1909 and 1911", The "Phantom Airship of 1913", the "London Zeppelin Raid" (January 19, 1915), The "San Francisco and New York Air Raids (December 8, 1941), The Los Angeles Air Raid (February, 1942), "The Phantom Helicopter Scare of 1973" and the "Mystery Aircraft of September 12th, 2001"

Description: An examination of U-boat activity in the coastal waters of New England during World War II. Russian submarine incursions of the Cold War, The forthcoming Chinese sub incursions, the Perth Amboy shelling of 1918, the German saboteurs on American soil in World War I and World War II and Pacific Coast WW II attacks by the Japanese will also be examined.

Description: An examination of Japanese soldiers who hid away for decades in the jungles of Pacific Islands thinking that the Second World War was still raging.

Description: An examination of the Japanese balloon bomb program during the later stages of World War II and its impact on the United States.

Description: An hourly examination of the pursuit and destruction of the mighty German battleship Bismarck during May of 1940.

Description: An examination of the planned and actual invasions and actual bombings of the United States.

EXPLORATION:

FINANCE:

Description: Topics include: The Price Revolution (1470 - 1620); Statue of Monopolies (1623); The Tipper and See-Saw Time of the Thirty Years' War (1618 - 1648); Tulip Mania (1637); The Darien Scheme (1698); Mississippi Land Company Bubble / Mississippi Scheme (1720); South Sea Bubble (1720); The Great Irish Famine (1740-41); The Industrial Revolution Wave (1771 - 1830); The Seven Years' War Recession (1772-73); The Birth of the Grand Supercycle (1776); The Financial Crisis of 1785; Canal Mania and The Panic of 1792; The Panic of 1797; The Embargo Act of 1807; The Financial Crisis of 1808; The Waterloo Commodities and Securities Waning (1818-19); The Panic of 1819; The Financial Crisis of 1825; The Age of Steam and Railways Wave (1829); The Panic of 1837 (May 10); The Great Hunger (1845-49); Railway Mania (1846); The Irish Potato Blight and European Wheat Failure (1846); The Financial Crisis of 1847; California Gold Rush (1848 - 1855); The Western Blizzard Panic of 1857; The Financial Crisis of 1860; The Second Industrial Revolution (1865 - 1900); The Silver Panic of 1866; The Overend, Gurney & Company Financial Crisis of 1866; The Finnish Famine of 1866-68; Black Friday - The Panic of 1869 (September 24); Der Krach - The Panic of 1873 (May 9); The Long Depression (1873 - 1896); The Age of Steel, Electricity and Heavy Engineering Wave (1875); The Financial Crisis of 1878; An Gorta Beag (1879); Victoria Land Boom (1880's); Grant's Last Panic of 1884; The Oklahoma Land Rush (1889); The Financial Crisis of 1889; The Panic of 1890 and the Sherman Silver Act; The Cleveland Ordeal of 1893; The Silver Panic of 1896; The U.S.S. Maine Panic of 1898; The Panic of 1901; The Financial Crisis of 1903; The Panic of 1907 (October 22); The Age of Oil, The Automobile and Mass Production Wave (1908); The Slight Economic Depression of 1910-11; The Aborted Panic of 1914; The New Imperialism (1871 - 1914); The Post-World War I Recession; The Financial Crisis of 1920; German Hyperinflation of the 1920's; First Russian Famine (1921-23); Florida Speculative Building Bubble (1926); The Great New York Stock Exchange Boom (Spring, 1928); The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929 (Black Thursday - October 24th, Black Monday - October 28th and Black Tuesday - October 29th); The Great Depression (1929-1939); The Dust Bowl (1933-1937); The Recession of 1937; The Fall of France Market Decline of 1940; Greek Hyperinflation (1941-44); Hunarian Hyperinflation (late 1940's); The Recession of 1953-54; The Eisenhower Illness Slide of 1955; The Recession of 1957-58; The Great Leap Forward (1958-60); The Kennedy Slide of 1962; The Kennedy Assassination Decline of 1963; The Johnson Erosion of 1966; The 1967 Oil Embargo; NYSE "Nifty Fifty" (1960's and 1970's); Poseidon Bubble (1970); The Age of Information and Telecommunications Wave (1971); The 1973 Oil Crisis; The 1979 Energy Crisis; Pyramid Scams (1980's - 1990's); Silver Thursday (March 27, 1980); The Great Commodities Recession (1980 - 2000); Baseball Card Bubble (1980's); Second Golden Age of Wrestling (1980's); The Recession of 1982-83; The Mexican Liquidity Problem (August, 1982); The Kuwaiti Souk Al-Manakh Stock Market Crash (1982); Mexican Hyperinflation (1982-88); Israeli Bank Stock Crisis (1983); Cabbage Patch Kids Frenzy (1983); Bolivian and Peruvian Hyperinflation (1985); Beanie Babies Frenzy (1986); Japanese Asset Price Bubble (1986-1990); The Hindenberg Omen (1985 - 2005); Black Monday (October 19, 1987); Bolivian and Peruvian Hyperinflation (1988-90); Argentinian Hyperinflation (1989); The Nikkei Real Estate Slip (1989-90); The Junk Bond Recession (1988 - 1992); Brazilian Hyperinflation (1990's); Friday the 13th Mini-Crash (October 13, 1989); The Third Energy Crisis (1990); Ukrainian Hyperinflation (early 1990's); Black Wednesday (1992); The English and Italian Foreign Exchange Attacks (1992); The Exchange Rate Mechanism Speculation of 1992-93; Yugoslavian Hyperinflation (October 1, 1993 - January 24, 1994); The Peso Crisis (1994-95); The Czech Banking Crisis (1990 - 1996); The Tech Stock Bubble of '95 (Autumn); Asian Financial Crisis of 1997; The Mini-Crash of October 27, 1997; Russian Financial Crisis (1998); The Slide of '98 (August 31); The U.K. Petrol Protest (2000); The Dot Com Bubble (1995 - 2000); The California Energy Crisis (2000 - 2003); The Dot Com Bubble Crash of March, 2000); The Post-9/11 Crash (2001); The U.S. Bear Market of 2000 - 2002; Stock Market Downturn of October, 2002; The Great European Bear Market (2000 - 2003); Australian Housing Bubble (2003-2004); The North American Natural Gas Crisis (2003 - 2020); The Argentine Energy Crisis (2004); The Oil Price Gouging (2004 - 2008); Peak Oil (2004 - 2014); My Space Explosion (2000's); Who Wants To Be a Millionaire Hype (2000's); United States Housing Bubble (2001 - 2005); American Idol Frenzy (2000's); Survivor Frenzy (2000's); You Tube Craze (2000's); Ipod Craze (2000's); The Sub-Prime ARM Mortgage Scam (2004 - 2007); Great Arabian Crash (2006); Iranian Stock Market Crisis (2005-07); Zimbabwe Hyperinflation (2006-07); The Housing Bubble of England and Ireland (2006-07); The Emerging Markets Correction of May, 2006; The Chinese Correction (February 27, 2007); The Great Stock Market Fluctuation and Draw Down (August, 2007); The Disgraceful and Unethical Collapse of American Mortgage Companies (2007 - 2009); The Great American Foreclosure Purge (2007 - 2010); The Northern Rock Bank Run (September, 2007); The Dow Slide of 360 points of October 19, 2007

Description: Topics include: Banska Stiavnica (300 BC); Bad Ems Mine (1158); Cortes Aztec Gold Heist (1519); Lead Hills Gold Rush (1500 - 1522); Joachimsthal Silver Rush (1500's); Iwami Ginzan Silver Rush (1526); Pizarro Inca Gold Heist (1532); Hernando de Soto Texas Oil Find (1543); Juan de Penagos Colombian Emerald Rush (1564); Espejo Arizona Silver Strike (1583); Kongsberg Silver Rush (1623); New Jersey Copper Rush (1659 - 1664); Connecticut Copper Rush (1705); New Jersey Copper Rush (1712); Brazilian Diamond Rush (1725); Virginia Gold Rush (1804); Georgia Gold Rush (1829); Maryland Copper Rush (1837); Michigan Copper Rush (1841); Railway Mania (1846); California Gold Rush (1848 - 1855); Maryland Gold Rush (1849); Ballarat Gold Rush (1851); Bathurst Gold Rush (1851); Bendigo Creek Gold Rush (1852); Central Otago Gold Rush (1850's); Fraser Canyon Gold Rush (1858); Pike's Peak Gold Rush 1858 - 1860); Nevada Silver Rush (1858); Comstock Lode (June 10, 1859); Colorado Gold Rush (1859); Holcomb Valley Gold Rush (1860); Iron Mountain Sulfide Rush (1860's); Maryland Gold Rush (1861); Nevada Silver Rush (1862); Montana Placer Gold Rush (1864); Nevada Silver Rush (1864);Clear Creek Canyon Silver Rush (1864); Nacogdoches County Oil Strike (1866); Nelson British Columbia Gold and Silver Rush (1867); Cananea Copper Rush (1868); Nevada Silver Rush (1869); New Mexico Turquoise Rush (1870); South African Diamond Rush (1871); Arizona Silver Boom (1871); Colorado Uranium Rush (1871); Arizona Silver Boom (1873); Montana Silver Rush (1874); Maine Copper Rush (1877 - 1884); California Copper Rush (1879); Colorado Silver Boom (1879); New Mexico Copper Rush (1879); Montana Copper Rush (1882); Broken Hill Silver Rush (1883); Bexar County Oil Find (1886); Witwatersrand Gold Rush (1886); Arizona Silver Boom (1892); The Sullivan Mine Sulfides (1892); Spindletop Gusher (1892); Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1893); Corsicana Oil Find (1895); Klondike Gold Rush (1895); Hercules Mine (1897); Southwest Colorado Uranium Rush (1898); Beaumont Oil Gusher (January 10, 1901); Rhodesian Diamond Rush (1903 - 1907); Cobalt Ontario Silver Rush (1903); Arkansas Diamond Rush (1906); Electra Oil Field (1911); Wichita County Oil Boomtown (1912); Saskatchewan Ruby Rush (July, 1914); Wichita County Oil Boomtown (1918); Big Lake, Texas Oil Gusher (May 28, 1923); Daisy Bradford No. 3 Well (October, 1930); Colorado Uranium Rush (1949); Wyoming Uranium Rush (1951 - 1953); Arkansas Diamond Rush (1978); Northwest Territories Gold Rush (1989); Point Lake Lac De Gras Diamond Rush (1991); Arkansas Diamond Rush (1997); Yukon Emerald Rush (1998); Kimberley Diamond Rush (2002); Northwest Territory Diamond Rush (August, 2002); Arkansas Diamond Rush (2003); Blood Diamonds of Africa (1990 - 2000); Nunavut Diamond Rush (2005); Arkansas Diamond Rush (2005); Colombia Emerald Forest Rush (April, 2006); Marange Diamond Rush (July, 2006); Arkansas Diamond Rush (2006); Lesotho Diamond Rush (2007); Epworth Zimbabwe False Diamond Rush (May, 2007); Buhera Zimbabwe Emerald Rush (January, 2007);

PARANORMAL:

Description: Topics include: The Great Light in The Night (1638), The Lynn Sea Monster (1641), The Spectre Leaguers (1692); The Wolves of Newbury (1704); The Gloucester Sea Serpent (1817); Mysterious Air Ships (1909), Scituate Sea Serpent (1969)

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