--- title: Memorable Eclipses in American History description: A look back at significant eclipses in America since the Revolutionary War. canonical: https://time.com/6963671/eclipses-through-history/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-04-05T16:42:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:55.107Z article:section: History og:title: 7 Memorable Eclipses From the Last 250 Years og:description: A look back at significant eclipses in America since the Revolutionary War. og:url: https://time.com/6963671/eclipses-through-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta64fa3cee23ca376/698a555b457a524771d6a279/solar-eclipse-history-1925a.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: solar-eclipse-history-1925a og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Memorable Eclipses From the Last 250 Years twitter:description: A look back at significant eclipses in America since the Revolutionary War. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta64fa3cee23ca376/698a555b457a524771d6a279/solar-eclipse-history-1925a.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Memorable Eclipses From the Last 250 Years > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=61f23c0c-1d17-4724-b0cb-7ee04f84c951&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=61f23c0c-1d17-4724-b0cb-7ee04f84c951&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How Eclipse Chasers are Going to Watch the 2024 Solar Eclipse [Watch (HLS stream): How Eclipse Chasers are Going to Watch the 2024 Solar Eclipse](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HELujoQS.m3u8) (3:41)  _Published 2024-04-04. The 2024 total solar eclipse will cross through parts of Mexico and several U.S. states before exiting over Canada. Here's how a few eclipse chasers from around the world have planned their trips to see be in the total eclipse path._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 5, 2024 4:42 PM UTC  The total eclipse of the sun on Jan. 24, 1925. The total eclipse of the sun on Jan. 24, 1925. Corbis/Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 5, 2024 4:42 PM UTC On April 8, many Americans will be able to see a total[ eclipse](https://time.com/6960270/solar-eclipse-2024-path-of-totality-map/)—their[ last chance](https://time.com/6962638/what-is-hybrid-eclipse/) to view one in the contiguous U.S. until 2044\. Throughout history, eclipses prompt an enthusiasm among people that is contagious, according to author David Baron, whose book _American Eclipse_ covers the [1878 eclipse](https://time.com/4880606/total-solar-eclipse-history-1878/), which led to a new kind of enthusiasm for science in the U.S.. “Excitement about the 1878 eclipse really got America jazzed about science and galvanized us to try to take on Europe as our own scientific power,” Baron says. Below, TIME looks back at notable eclipses in American history. **October 27, 1780** This eclipse crossed Maine, including territory under British control during the [Revolutionary war](https://time.com/3800743/faces-of-the-american-revolution/). Massachusetts governor-elect [John Hancock](https://time.com/5323460/declaration-of-independence-john-trumbull/) wrote a letter to British forces asking them to briefly put their political differences aside and allow Harvard professor Samuel Williams through the Gulf of Maine to make some observations, writing, “We are political enemies, yet with regard to Science it is presumable we shall not dissent from the practice of all civilized people in promoting it either in conjunction or separately as occasions for it shall happen to offer.” **June 16, 1806** The eclipse could be seen from modern-day Arizona to Massachusetts. Among the Massachusetts observers was U.S. Senator and future President [John Quincy Adams](https://time.com/4401249/presidential-pants-history/), who [journaled](https://www.masshist.org/publications/jqadiaries/index.php/document/jqadiaries-v27-1806-06-16-p238/dual) about the phenomenon from Boston. As he observed changes in wildlife behavior, “The cattle, and poultry discovered the symptoms of Night, and followed their usual habits on its approach—the swallows appeared surprized and flew with that wild irregularity, which is described as betokening the approach of an Earthquake.”  August 7, 1869: An image created by French artist Etienne Leopold Trouvelot during the solar eclipse of Aug. 7, 1869 in Shelbyville, Kentucky. SSPL/Science Museum/Getty Images **August 7, 1869** This [eclipse](https://time.com/6882980/eclipse-types-lunar-annular/) went from Dakota territory down to North Carolina. Among the scientists who flocked to Iowa to see this eclipse was Maria Mitchell and several of her Vassar students—the only all-female group watching the eclipse. Her sister, the artist Phebe Mitchell Kendall, came along to sketch the eclipse. “The Mississippi assumed a leaden hue; a sickly green spread over the landscape,” she wrote at the time. “The birds uttered a painful cry; fireflies winked in the foliage, and when the last ray of light was extinguished.” **July 29, 1878** In Denver, many businesses [closed](https://time.com/6961863/solar-eclipse-2024-traffic/) to view this eclipse, which was visible from the Montana territory to Texas. With hotels booked up, people begged local residents to let them stay in their extra rooms, and at least one man reportedly slept on a pool table. People could pay to go up church steeples, or rent a tent in the Gardens of Gods public park. A Denver sheep herder described the eclipse as “a black carpet sliding over the plains.” At the nearby summit Grays Peak, observers sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” and fired revolvers to celebrate. Eclipse glasses were made out of shards of clear glass blackened over a candle. **May 28, 1900** [President William McKinley ](https://time.com/5160978/presidents-day-history-memory/)was among the thousands of people in the southeastern U.S.—from Texas to Virginia—who saw the first eclipse visible in America in the 20th century, stationing himself aboard the _USS Dolphin_ in Norfolk_._ “Twilight settled on land and water and the skies took on wonderful after-sunset tints,” per one Associated Press [dispatch](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86092518/1900-05-29/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1900&index=1&rows=20&words=after+after-sunset+land+settled+skies+sunset+tints+took+Twilight+water+wonderful&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1900&proxtext=%22Twilight+settled+on+the+land+and+water+and+the+skies+took+on+wonderful+after-sunset+tints%22&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1) that ran in May 29, 1900, newspapers. Weather Bureau scientists nationwide kept their eyes on shadow bands, which NASA defines as “thin wavy lines of alternating light and dark that can be seen moving and undulating in parallel on plain-coloured surfaces immediately before and after a total solar eclipse.” **June 8, 1918** The eclipse was supposed to be visible coast to coast—from Washington State to Florida—but some areas of the country couldn’t see it due to heavy clouds. The New York _Sun_ [described](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030431/1918-06-09/ed-1/seq-16/#date1=06%2F09%2F1918&sort=relevance&date2=06%2F09%2F1918&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=15&words=eclipse+ECLIPSE+eclipses&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=%22eclipse%22&proxtext=&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=range&page=1) the phenomenon as “the wonderfully colored glow of the inner circle with its moving multi-colored shafts of light.” From his perch in Goldendale, Wash., scientist W.W. Campbell [wrote](https://www.nytimes.com/1918/06/10/archives/clouds-fall-away-for-solar-eclipse-coincidence-called-remarkable-by.html) in the New York _Times_ that the eclipse was the darkest of the six he’d observed in his career, adding, “Reading would have been difficult under the open sky.” The next time a solar eclipse became viewable from the contiguous U.S. was August 21, 2017\.  January 24, 1925: President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge view the solar eclipse from the White House Lawn. Universal Images Group/Getty Images **January 24, 1925** This eclipse was widely seen from New York City, so observers stationed themselves on rooftops along the Hudson River to get a good view, in nine-degree temperatures. The [New York Stock Exchange](https://time.com/4777959/buttonwood-agreement-stock-exchange/) delayed its opening so traders could watch the eclipse. The Feb. 2, 1925, issue of TIME [reported](https://time.com/vault/issue/1925-02-02/page/20/) that the period of totality occurred five seconds later than predicted and radio transmission was affected. Per a Jan. 25, 1925, New York _Times_ [report](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1925/01/25/101635295.html?pageNumber=5), a Harlem court saw three men who were arrested being too drunk and rowdy—or as the paper put it, “overdoing a liquid celebration” in anticipation of the eclipse. The judge, upon learning the men were in jail the morning while the eclipse took place, said “I think you have been sufficiently punished. Discharged.” ## Transcript while the high school I was part of the astronomy club in Columbus Ohio or when school and they had a lecture one day on a group that went from Ohio to Africa to see the eclipse in 2003 and they said that if you want to see one of these did not travel that far your first Chance is going to be in 2017 as there's one Crossing to the US so waited fourteen years or so to see the one in 2017 and I would absolutely wait every second of that way to get if I have to total eclipse of the Sun every eclipse is different there be Eclipse experiences different especially if you have to travel to so different countries my goal was not to go only to the US for the eclipse to the challenge is to be on vacation for two weeks and see northern lights and the total eclipse and storm chasing in Texas. Maybe see a tornado those three things in 2 weeks vacation would be that's the challenge action. How to check the weather I obsessively check the weather for the prospects in Upstate New York piping sit around Rochester that kind of area is not as good as it could be but if you know that the chances and 0 I mean I got around trying to choose places with good weather and the rest of it but practicality time you got a family there's a difference between taking a flight to Toronto that cost $400 or walnuts going to be $3,000 to text us much longer time distance and it's just so for me that's what it was about but I would choose somewhere that has what works for me whether Prospect practicality and affordability and things today cuz I talk to you kids and I work and it's just not possible to pay for that. We started planning this trip probably about two maybe two and a half. And at the time we were initially looking in southern Texas at the time though, even two years ago everything the other was sold out. So that was number one to make us consider looking at other places as well. So we're going to be watching it from a city in Mexico called turning on and it actually is based on our knowledge of the historical Cloud pattern the lowest chance of cloud cover for the entire Center Line of the eclipse path. A listening ear is if you are really committed to see this one. It should be good to me and it Mobile near you make me to go to some other place. I have a direct flight from Istanbul to Houston, which is taking like 13 hours, but I'm used to eating out here also twice a year, maybe like it's not bad. So I have my paycheck, but I always save a few dollars Euros whatever for the eclipses. That just look at it and they go. Okay. That was cool to me. I'm not in any way religious at all, but it's as close to a religious movement as I think you can get without being religious the well carries on but it's like something changes in you and I seen it now you'll never forget it. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6963671/eclipses-through-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6963671/eclipses-through-history/"},"headline":"7 Memorable Eclipses From the Last 250 Years","datePublished":"2024-04-05T16:42:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:42:55.107Z","description":"A look back at significant eclipses in America since the Revolutionary War.","url":"https://time.com/6963671/eclipses-through-history/","keywords":["Science","Eclipse","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta64fa3cee23ca376/698a555b457a524771d6a279/solar-eclipse-history-1925a.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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