“Our Dark Day” article from the Gazette and Courier newspaper

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From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information


About this item

On September 6, 1881, a strange darkness settled over New England. In some places it was so dark that schools were dismissed. What light there was from the obscured sun was strangely yellow, and everything seemed luminous. Some people believed that the world had come to an end. A similar phenomenon occurred on May 19, 1780. The sky turned dark, and colors were distorted, causing the grass to appear blue. Men driving the mail stages reportedly had to pull off at the nearest inn because they could not see. These dark days were caused by enormous fires in the West and Canada. There was so much soot in the atmosphere that for days the sunsets had been spectacular. Rain that fell and collected in tubs was covered by black scum and smelled like soot. In 1881, the fires that caused “Yellow Tuesday” burned 20 villages and killed 500 people. A similar fire occurred in September of 1950, known as the “The Great Smoke Pall.”

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Details

Item typeArticle
PublisherGreenfield Gazette and Courier
Date1881-09-12
PlaceNew England
TopicNatural Phenomena, Weather, Climate
EraRise of Industrial America, 1878–1899
MaterialPaper
Process/FormatPrinting
Dimension detailsProcess Material: printed paper, ink Diameter: 10.00 in Width: 2.00 in
Catalog #L06.001
View this item in our curatorial database →
Greenfield Gazette and Courier. “Our Dark Day.” September 12, 1881. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l06-001/. Accessed on November 10, 2024.

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