They say that history is cyclical. However, there are events that have happened only once in the memory of mankind. Perhaps this is even for the best, because a meteorite fall, fatal smallpox and natural disasters are clearly not what people dream of. Novate.ru will tell you about interesting phenomena that have influenced the course of history.
1. Changing the flow of the Mississippi
The Mississippi is the largest river in North America, with a length of 3,770 km. The current moves from north to south and ends in the Gulf of Mexico. One day in 2012, Hurricane Isaac raged in Louisiana, and the wind speed reached a record 130 km / h. The squall air masses even affected the direction of the water in the river, and the Mississippi flowed in the opposite direction for a whole day. And the waves, rising by gusts of wind, were 3 m higher than ordinary river waves.
2. Carrington event
In 1859, a powerful geomagnetic storm occurred, which was also dubbed the Carrington event. From August 28 to September 2, spots and flares appeared on the Sun. On September 1, British astronomer Richard Carrington noticed the strongest flash ever. Because of it, there was an increased activity of the geomagnetic field, and during the day the storm reached the Earth. Telegraphs failed in North America and across Europe, and fishermen in the Caribbean and gold diggers in the Rocky Mountains caught the never-before-seen aurora borealis.
3. The fall of the Tunguska meteorite
In 1908, during the time of the Russian Empire, a space object fell in the area of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River (Central Siberia). The fall triggered an explosion that resembled a hydrogen bomb in power. After that, the sky and clouds over the Atlantic and Siberia literally glowed. The blast wave destroyed all life within a radius of 40 km. At the same time, the cosmic body itself was never found. Scientists suggest that the meteorite burned up when it entered the atmosphere or during a collision with the earth. It is assumed that the size of a space body could reach 30 m.
4. The eruption of the supervolcano Toba
Toba is not just a volcano, but a supervolcano, that is, a geological formation, whose eruption is capable of provoking climate change on the planet. It is located in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra. About 75 thousand years ago, one of the largest eruptions on the planet in the last 25 million years took place. Because of the explosion, so much sulfur gas and ash got into the atmosphere that it provoked a real volcanic winter. Many animals and plants died from the cold and lack of sunlight.
5. The appearance of comet West
In 1976, a large comet passed through the solar system, distinguished by an incredibly bright glow. The cosmic body was discovered by astronomer Richard West back in 1975 and continued to observe the comet. Eyewitnesses noted that the glow of a cosmic body flying over the earth was visible even during the day. However, for many, the event went unnoticed due to recent disappointment. Scientists predicted a spectacular passage of comet Kohoutek, but expectations did not come true.
6. Destruction of smallpox
Smallpox has become the only disease that has been completely eradicated on a global scale. A highly contagious viral infection has raged on Earth since ancient times. The disease is extremely dangerous, there was no cure for it. Only at the end of the 18th century, the English doctor Edward Jenner managed to create a vaccine with which it turned out to stop a fatal disease. Jenner found that people who worked with cattle became infected and got sick with mild smallpox. So he realized that the introduction into the body of a virus devoid of pathogenicity would help develop antibodies to strains of the same infection. By the way, the smallpox vaccine was the first invented vaccine in the world. The last case of smallpox was recorded in the summer of 1978.
7. The dance plague
An outbreak of dance mania occurred in 1518 in Strasbourg (now a city in France). One day in July, Frau Troffea suddenly started dancing and could not stop for six days. At first, the audience laughed and applauded, but within a week another 34 people joined the woman. A month later, the number of dancers increased to 400. 15 people a day died from the dancing plague. They had heart attacks, strokes, exhaustion, but people could not stop. Gradually, the disease began to subside and most of the affected were able to regain control of their bodies.
8. Hurricane Katarina
Cyclone Katarina was the only hurricane to hit the South Atlantic and South America. The rarest tropical cyclone hit the shores of Brazil in 2004. The hurricane of the second category fought everything in its path at a speed of 120-150 km / h. Thanks to the timely evacuation, 3 people died from the cataclysm, and 75 were injured.
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