The 1815 Tambora eruption led to the worldwide "Year without a Summer" in 1816. We have plenty of evidence of the cause and effect for that one. But there are records of a similar event, with even larger consequences, from the year 1465. October 10, 1465, to be exact, when a sudden darkness in the sky was recorded during the wedding of King Alfonso II of Naples.
This was just the beginning. In the months that followed, European weather went haywire. In Germany, it rained so heavily that corpses surfaced in cemeteries. In the town of Thorn, Poland, the inhabitants took to travelling the streets by boat. In the unrelenting rain, the castle cellars of Teutonic knights were flooded and whole villages were swept away.
Four years later, Europe was hit by a mini ice age. Fish froze in their ponds. Trees failed to blossom and grass didn’t grow. In Bologna, Italy, heavy snow forced locals to travel with their horses and carriages along the frozen waterways.
From all the evidence, these things were caused by a volcanic eruption. But so far, scientists have been unable to pinpoint where it was! Oh, there are clues, many clues, in fact, that lead to conflicting locations, years, and events so that there is still no consensus of what happened. Read more about that research at BBC Future. -via Digg
(Image credit: Kevin.Sebold)