The Dark Day of May 19th, 1780 (3)

  The time of this extraordinary darkness, was May 19, 1780. It came on between hours of ten and eleven, A. M. and continued until the middle of the next night; but with different appearances at different places. [...] The degree to which the darkness arose, was different in different places. In most parts of the country it was so great, that people were unable to read common print—determine the time of day by their clocks or watches—dine—or manage their domestic business, without the light of candles. In some places, the darkness was so great, that persons could not see to read common print in the open air, for several hours together: but I believe this was not generally the case. The extent of this darkness was very remarkable. Our intelligence, in this respect, is not so particular as I could wish: but from the accounts that have been received, it seems to have extended all over the New-England states. It was observed as far east as Falmouth [Portland, Maine].—To the westward, we hear of its reaching to the furthest parts of Connecticut, and Albany —To the southward, it was observed all along the sea-coasts:—and to the north, as far as our settlements extend. It is probable it extended much beyond these limits, in some directions: but the exact boundaries cannot be ascertained by any observations that I have been able to collect. With regard to its duration, it continued in this place at least fourteen hours: but it is probable this was not exactly the same in different parts of the country. The appearance and effects were such as tended to make the prospect extremely dull and gloomy. Candles were lighted up in the houses;—the birds having sung their evening songs, disappeared, and became silent;—the fowls retired to roost;—the cocks were crowing all around, as at break of day;—objects could not be distinguished but at a very little distance; and every thing bore the appearance and gloom of night.

Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 1, 1785, pp. 234-235.

The Meteor Shower of November 12-13, 1833

  [...] the most sublime phenomenon of shooting stars, of which the world has furnished any record, was witnessed throughout the United States on the morning of the 13th of November, 1833. The entire extent of this astonishing exhibition has not been precisely ascertained, but it covered no inconsiderable portion of the earth's surface. [...]

  [...] the first appearance was that of fireworks of the most imposing grandeur, covering the entire vault of heaven with myriads of fire-balls, resembling sky-rockets. Their coruscations were bright, gleaming and incessant, and they fell thick as the flakes in the early snows of December.

  To the splendors of this celestial exhibition, the most brilliant sky-rockets and fireworks of art bear less relation than the twinkling of the most tiny star to the broad glare of the sun. The whole heavens seemed in motion, and suggested to some the awful grandeur of the image employed in the apocalypse, upon the opening of the sixth seal, when "the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind."

Burritt, Elijah Hinsdale, The Geography of the Heavens, grt. enl., rev., and ill. by Hiram Mattison, New York: Mason Brothers; Cincinnati: Rickey, Mallory & Co., 1860, p. 157.

The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 (2)

The great earthquake of 1755 extended over a tract of at least four millions of square miles. Its effects were even extended to the waters, in many places where the shocks were not perceptible. It pervaded the greater portions of the continents of Europe, Africa, and America; but its extreme violence was exercised on the southwestern part of the former.

Sears, Robert, The Wonders of the World, in Nature, Art, and Mind, New York: published by Robert Sears, 1843, p. 50.

In Africa this earthquake was felt almost as severely as it had been in Europe. A great part of the city of Algiers was destroyed. Many houses were thrown down at Fez and Mequinez, and multitudes were buried beneath their ruins. Similar eflfects were realized in Morocco. Its eflfects were likewise felt at Tangier, at Tetuan, at Funchal in the island of Madeira; [...] it is probable [...] that all Africa was shaken by this tremendous convulsion. At the north it extended to Norway and Sweden; Germany, Holland, France, Great Britain, and Ireland were all more or less agitated by the same great and terrible commotion of the elements.

Sears, Robert, The Wonders of the World, in Nature, Art, and Mind, New York: published by Robert Sears, 1843, p. 58.

The city of Lisbon [...] Previous to that calamity [...] contained about [...] 150,000 inhabitants [...]. [...] Mr. Barretti says, "that 90,000 persons are supposed to have been lost on that fatal day. [...]"

Sears, Robert, The Wonders of the World, in Nature, Art, and Mind, New York: published by Robert Sears, 1843, p. 381.

The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 (1)

In no part of the volcanic region of Southern Europe has so tremendous an earthquake occurred in modern times as that which began on the 1st of November, 1755, at Lisbon. A sound of thunder was heard underground, and immediately afterwards a violent shock threw down the greater part of that city. In the course of about six minutes, sixty thousand persons perished. The sea first retired and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising fifty feet above its ordinary level. The mountains of Arrabida, Estrella, Julio, Marvan, and Cintra, being some of the largest in Portugal, were impetuously shaken, as it were, from their very foundations; and some of them opened at their summits, which were split and rent in a wonderful manner, huge masses of them being thrown down into the subjacent valleys. Flames are related to have issued from these mountains, which are supposed to have been electric; they are also said to have smoked; but vast clouds of dust may have given rise to this appearance.
[...]
The great area over which this Lisbon earthquake extended is very remarkable. The movement was most violent in Spain, Portugal, and the north of Africa; but nearly the whole of Europe, and even the West Indies, felt the shock on the same day. A seaport called St. Ubes, about twenty miles south of Lisbon, was engulfed. At Algiers and Fez, in Africa, the agitation of the earth was equally violent; and at the distance of eight leagues from Morocco, a village with the inhabitants, to the number of about eight or ten thousand persons, together with all their cattle, were swallowed up. Soon after, the earth closed again over them.
The shock was felt at sea, on the deck of a ship to the west of Lisbon, and produced very much the same sensation as on dry land. Off St. Lucar, the captain of the ship Nancy felt his vessel so violently shaken, that he thought she had struck the ground, but, on heaving the lead, found a great depth of water. Captain Clark, from Denia, in latitude 36° 24' N., between nine and ten in the morning, had his ship shaken and strained as if she had struck upon a rock. Another ship, forty leagues west of St Vincent, experienced so violent a concussion, that the men were thrown a foot and a half perpendicularly up from the deck. In Antigua and Barbadoes, as also in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Corsica, Switzerland, and Italy, tremors and slight oscillations of the ground were felt.
The agitation of lakes, rivers and springs in Great Britain was remarkable. At Loch Lomond, in Scotland, for example, the water, without the least apparent cause, rose against its banks, and then subsided below its usual level. The greatest perpendicular height of this swell was two feet four inches. It is said that the movement of this earthquake was undulatory, and that it travelled at the rate of twenty miles a minute. A great wave swept over the coast of Spain, and is said to have been sixty feet high at Cadiz. At Tangier, in Africa, it rose and fell eighteen times on the coast; at Funchal, in Madeira, it rose full fifteen feet perpendicular above high-water mark, although the tide, which ebbs and flows there seven feet, was then at half-ebb. Besides entering the city and committing great havoc, it overflowed other seaports in the island. At Kinsale, in Ireland, a body of water rushed into the harbour, whirled round several vessels, and poured into the marketplace.

Spofford, Ainsworth Rand and Charles Gibbon, The Library of Choice Literature, Philadelphia: Gebbie & Co.,  1882, vol. 7, pp. 162-163.

Marduk, "calf of the sun"

[...] the logographic writing of his [Marduk's] name ^dAMAR.UD, Sumerian for "calf of the sun/sun-god"[...]

Nicole Brisch, 'Marduk (god)', Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses, Oracc and the UK Higher Education Academy, 2013 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/]

The Ottoman Turks Make Their First Attack on the Eastern Roman Empire

It was on the twenty-seventh of July, in the year twelve hundred and ninety-nine of the Christian aera, that Othman first invaded the territory of Nicomedia; and the singular accuracy of the date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive growth of the monster.

Gibbon, Edward, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vols., London: A. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1788, v. 6, p. 311.

The "Cleansing" of the Sanctuary of Daniel 8.14 -- Latin Vulgate

Et dixit ei: Usque ad vesperam & mane, dies & juge sacrisicium, & peccatum desolationis, quae duo millia trecenti: & mundabitur sanctuarium.

Daniel 8:14 (Latin Vulgate)

Sabatier, Pierre, Bibliorum Sacrorum, latinae versiones antiguae, Remis: Apud Reginaldum Florentain, 1743, v. 2, p. 874.

And he said to him: Unto the evening & morning, two thousand three hundred: and the sanctuarie shal be clensed.

Daniel 8:14 (Douay-Rheims)
The Holy Bible, faithfully translated into English out of the authentical Latin, diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greek, & other editions in divers languages (1610 A.D. Douay Old Testament, 1582 A.D. Rheims New Testament), printed by Iohn Cousturier, 1635, p. 752.

MUNDARE, to make clean or neat.

"Mundare," Alexander Adam's A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue, 2nd ed., Edinburgh: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1814 (, p. 479).

The "Cleansing" of the Temple of Daniel 8.14 -- The Septuagint

Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, ἕως ἑσπέρας καὶ πρωὶ ἡμέραι δισχίλιαι καὶ τετρακόσιαι, καὶ καθαρισθήσεται τὸ ἅγιον.

And he said to him, Evening and morning there shall be two thousand and four [three] hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.

 Daniel 8:14 (Septuagint)
(Brenton, Lancelot Charles Lee, The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1879, p. 1063.)

καθαρίζω, later form for καθαίρω, to cleanse, Lxx, N. T. [...]

"καθαρίζω," Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, 6th ed., rev. and aug., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1869 (, p. 752).

καθαίρω [...] I. of the person or thing purified, to make pure or clean, cleanse, clean, purge, [...] 2. in religious sense, to cleanse, purify, [...]

"καθαίρω," Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, 6th ed., rev. and aug., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1869 (, p. 751).

καθαρίζω [...] 1. to make clean, to cleanse: a. from physical stains and dirt [...] b. in a moral sense; α. to free from the defilement of sin and from faults; to purify from wickedness [...] β. to free from the guilt of sin, to purify [...] 2. to pronounce clean in a levitical sense [...]

"καθαρίζω," Thayer, Joseph Henry, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, cor. ed., New York; Cincinnati; Chicago: American Book Company, 1889 (, p. 312).

Hebrew Parallelism and the Meanings of צדק, ṭâhêr, and טהר, tsâdaq

Shall mortall man be more just [צדק, tsâdaq, Strong #6663] then God?

shall a man bee more pure [טהר, ṭâhêr, Strong #2891] then his maker?

Job 4:17 (1611 KJV)

The Extent of the Meteor Shower of November 12-13, 1833

The shower [of meteors on Nov. 12-13, 1833] pervaded nearly the whole of North America, having appeared in nearly equal splendor from the British possessions on the north to the West-India Islands and Mexico on the south, and from sixty-one degrees of longitude east of the American coast, quite to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Throughout this immense region, the duration was nearly the same. [...]

Soon after this remarkable occurrence, it was ascertained that a similar meteoric shower had appeared in 1799, [...] on the morning of the twelfth of November; and [...] on the morning of the same thirteenth of November, in 1830, 1831, and 1832.

Olmsted, Denison, Letters on Astronomy Addressed to a Lady, Boston: Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb, 1841, pp. 348-349.

The Root Meaning of the Title 'Vatican'

VATES, is, m. & f. (q. a fari) one who foretold future events, a prophet or prophetess, a diviner or soothsayer; [...] --VATICINIUM, i, n. a prediction, an oracle or prophecy, [...] --VATICINUS, a, prophetic; [...] --VATICINARI, (fatum & cano) to prophecy, to foretell, to divine; [...] --VATICINATIO, onis, f. a prophecying, divination; a prophecy, a prediction; [...]

"Vates," Alexander Adam's A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue, Edinburgh: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1805 (, pp. 777-778).

The Dark Day of May 19th, 1780 (2)

You will readily recollect that, previously to the commencement of the darkness, the sky was overcast with the common kind of clouds, from which there was, in some places, a light sprinkling of rain. Between these and the earth there intervened another stratum, to appearance, of very great thickness. As this stratum advanced, the darkness commenced, and increased with its progress till it came to its height; which did not take place till the hemisphere was a second time overspread. [...]

[...]

[...] The rays, that fortunately effected their passage through the first, were [...] turned out of their direct course, so that they must have struck upon the second very obliquely. [...] The Wonder is much greater, that any of them were able to penetrate. [...]

The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as ever has been observed since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light. It wanted only palpability to render it as extraordinary, as that which over spread the land of AEgypt in the days of Moses. [...] I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence,  the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet. Considering the small quantity of light that was transmitted by the clouds, by day, it is not surprising that, by night, a sufficient quantity of rays should not be able to penetrate the same strata, brought back by the shifting of the winds, to afford the most obscure prospect even of the best reflecting bodies.

Letter of Samuel Tenney (an eye-witness at Rowley [Mass.?]), dated Exeter [N.H.?], Dec., 1785, in

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, For the Year 1792, vol. 1, Boston: Munroe & Francis, printers to the Historical Society, 1806, pp. 95, 97, 98.

The Dark Day of May 19th, 1780 (1)

The 19th of May, 1780, was a remarkable dark day. Candles were lighted in many houses; the birds were silent and disappeared, and the fowls retired to roost. The legislature of Connecticut was then in session at Hartford. A very general opinion prevailed, that the day of judgment was at hand. The House of Representatives, being unable to transact their business, adjourned. A proposal to adjourn the Council was under consideration. When the opinion of Colonel Davenport was asked, be answered, 'I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment: if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.'

Barber, John Warner, Connecticut Historical Collections, 2 ed., New Haven, Connecticut: Durrie & Peck and J. W. Barber, 1837, p. 403.

The French Revolution Predicted One Hundred Years in Advance (2)

'Tis to be observed, that in the Text, 'tis not in the streets, in the plural, as the French translation reads; 'tis in the street, in the singular. And I cannot hinder my self from believing, that this hath a particular regard to France, which at this day is certainly the most eminent Countrey, which belongs to the popish Kingdom. Her King is called the eldest Son of the Church, the most Christian King, i. e. the most popish, according to the dialect of Rome. The Kings of France have by their liberalities made the Popes great at this day; it is the most flourishing State of Europe. It is in the middle of the popish Empire, betwixt Italy, Spain, Germany, England, exactly as a street or place of concourse is in the middle of a City. [...] In a word, 'tis the place or street of the great City. And I believe, that 'tis particularly in France, that the witnesses must remain dead; i.e. that the profession of the true Religion must be utterly abolisht.

Jurieu, Peter, The Accomplishment of the Scripture Prophecies, 2 vols., London: printed in the year 1687, vol. 2, ch. 13, pp. 247-248.

The Meaning of the Name 'Jezebel'

Jezebel, chaste.

'Jezebel,' An Interpreting Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names found in

Roswell D. Hitchcock, Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible, New York: A. J. Johnson, 1871, p. 1109.

The Meaning of the Name 'Cozbi'

Cozbi, a liar; [...]

'Cozbi,' An Interpreting Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names found in

Roswell D. Hitchcock, Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible, New York: A. J. Johnson, 1871, p. 1106.

The French Revolution Predicted One Hundred Years in Advance

Now what is this tenth part of this City, which shall fall? In my opinion, we cannot doubt that 'tis France. This Kingdom is the most considerable part, or piece of the ten horns, or States, which once made up the great Babylonian City [...] This tenth part of the City shall fall, with respect to the Papacy; it shall break with Rome, and the Roman Religion.

Jurieu, Peter, The Accomplishment of the Scripture Prophecies, 2 vols., London: printed in the year 1687, vol. 2, ch. 13, p. 265.

The Ten Barbarian Nations of the Divided Roman Empire

The historian Machiavel, without the slightest reference to this prophecy [that of Daniel 7], gives the following list of the nations which occupied the territory of the Western Empire at the time of the fall of Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor of Rome.

The Lombards, the Franks, the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Heruli, the Sueves, the Huns, and the Saxons; ten in all. 

Guinness, Henry Grattan, The Divine Programme of the World's History, London: Harley House, 1892, p. 318.

Origin of the Title 'Vatican' According to the Vatican Curator, Ercole Massi

The Vatican Hill takes its name from the Latin word Vaticanus, a vaticiniis ferendis, in allusion to the oracles, or Vaticinia, which were anciently delivered here.

Massi, Ercole G., Compendious Description of the Museums of Ancient Sculpture, Greek and Roman, in the Vatican Palace, 2nd ed., enlarged and improved, Rome: Printing Establishment Morini, 1882, p. 5.

Origin of the Title 'Vatican' According to Aulus Gellius (2nd c. AD)

We have been told that the word Vatican is applied to the hill, and the deity who presides over it, from the vaticinia, or prophecies, which took place there by the power and inspiration of the god; [...]

Gellius, Aulus, Attic Nights, bk. 16, ch. 17.

(Gellius, Aulus, The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius, trans. William Beloe, London: printed for J. Johnson, 1795, vol. 3, p. 247.)