May 26-28, 1910

May 26, 1910


Bess and I went to a reception for our new pastor at our church. There were a lot of people there. The comet was ---- with a new tail but we did not see it. 


W. Fine. Colder
R. 11

May 27, 1910


Did some spading in the garden. 


W. Rain
R. 10

Me too Adam, me too!! (of course, I did mine today, June 1st)

May 28, 1910


Finished spading up the north side of the lot. & Dave & I played handball at the gym. Home at 10 and saw the comet.


W. Fine
R. 11

I like that he is so excited about the comet.  In my lifetime the comet has made it's way back around (in 1986) and I can tell you I wasn't nearly this excited about it. I was 15 at the time. I don't even remember it registering as a monumental event (that says way more about my 15 year old self than it does about Adam of course.)

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, some people were really in an uproar over the comet in 1910. Some  bought into the hysteria created by the discovery of poison gas in the comet. My friend Toni recently gave me a written account from her own family. Her ancestors lived in Italy. At the time of the 1910 comet her family had a particular cheese they were saving for a special occasion. Their young daughter, (her great grandma I think.) figuring she was going to die anyway, ate the cheese! I bet she got in trouble later!!!

The funny thing is that people have been recording sightings of Halley's comet since 240 BC, all without incident.

This is neat:

Halley's calculations enabled the comet's earlier appearances to be found in the historical record. The comet may have been recorded in China as early as 467 BC, but this is uncertain.^[46] The first certain observation dates from 240 BC, and subsequent appearances were recorded by Chinese, Babylonian, Persian, and other Mesopotamian texts.

 Of course at the time people didn't know that what they were observing was "Halley's Comet" of cours  e:

Halley's returns to the inner Solar System have been observed by astronomers since at least 240 BC, and recorded by Chinese, Babylonian, and medieval European chroniclers, but were not recognized as reappearances of the same object. The comet's periodicity was first determined in 1705 by English astronomer Edmond Halley, after whom it is now named. Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.