On May 19, 1780, Historian Thomas Campanella explains, “ a preternatural gloom settled upon the New England landscape, and by noon the sun had been all but blotted from the sky.” New England’s “Dark Day” was read as an omen, even, perhaps, as the biblical end of days. But the question has persisted for nearly two and a half centuries- what could have blotted out the Sun?
You’ve probably heard of the Spanish Armada, in 1588 is a famous failure - a defeat so complete that it established the English as a naval power, while it underscored Spain’s decline. But much less remembered was that the English too raised an armada, seeking to take advantage of the Spanish loss, itself ending in dismal, almost spectacular failure.
The Forgotten English Armada