Abstract
THE first appearance of the Aurora Borealis noticed in Mr. E. J. Lowe's “Natural Phenomena and Chronology of the Seasons” is that on Jan. 30, 1560. Other appearances are mentioned under the years 1564, 1574, and 1575. No further record of it appears until Nov. 10, 1707, when it was seen in Ireland. Five more displays are noticed between this and the memorable one of Feb. 23, 1716, which, happening to take place on the day of Lord Derwentwater's execution, obtained for the phenomenon in the north of England the appellation of “Lord Derwentwater's Lights.” On March 6 of the same year occurred another grand display, which is referred to in the chronologies of remarkable occurrences published in the almanacks of last century as “The Great Amazing Light in the North,” continuing to be seen (more or less) at several times since, yearly. Previous displays in this century had probably not been visible in London. The phenomenon is thus described, with an attempt at explanation, in the Flying Post of March 8:—
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G., R. The Earliest Mention of the Aurora Borealis. Nature 3, 46 (1870). https://doi.org/10.1038/003046a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/003046a0
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