In the year 536, the sun dimmed for 18 months: "one of the worst periods to be alive"

Boing Boing reports on a phenomenon from the year five thirty-six: for about eighteen months starting in spring, the sun dimmed dramatically over Constantinople. Roman historian Procopius described an eerie, eclipse-like quality to the light, while statesman Cassiodorus chronicled the impossible conditions — shadows vanishing at noon, the full moon appearing hollow, summers shorn of all heat. Witnesses of the time called it one of the worst periods to be alive.

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