The Dry Fog of 1783
In the summer of 1783, a strange dry fog spread across Europe. The Sun turned blood red at noon, and the air smelled of sulphur.
What was reported
In June 1783, people across Europe noticed a thick haze that didn't behave like fog: it didn't lift in the sun or the wind, and it smelled of sulphur. The Sun looked blood-red, and grass and leaves withered. In Paris, Benjamin Franklin wrote about it and wondered if a volcano was to blame.
It was a year of omens. There were violent storms, and a great fireball crossed the skies of Britain in August.
Explanations offered
The haze came from the Laki fissure in Iceland, which poured out lava and poisonous gases for eight months. In Iceland, the gases killed most of the livestock, and about a fifth of the population died in the famine that followed. Across Europe, the haze is thought to have caused a harsh winter and crop failures.
- When
- June 1783–February 1784
- Where
- Laki, Southern Region, Iceland
- Witnesses
- People across Iceland and Europe, Benjamin Franklin among them
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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