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History Unplugged Podcast

How the 1910 Return of Halley's Comet (Almost) Destroyed Civilization

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 29 June 2023

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Halley’s Comet visits the earth every seventy-five years. Since the dawn of civilization, humans had believed comets were evil portents. In 1705, Edmond Halley liberated humanity from these primordial superstitions (or so it was thought), proving that Newtonian mechanics rather than the will of the gods brought comets into our celestial neighborhood. Despite this scientific advance, when Halley’s Comet returned in 1910 and astronomers announced that our planet would pass through its poisonous tail, newspapers gleefully provoked a global hysteria that unfolded with tragic consequences. In “Comet Madness: How the 1910 Return of Halley's Comet (Almost) Destroyed Civilization,” Richard J. Goodrich examines the 1910 appearance of Halley’s Comet and the ensuing frenzy sparked by media manipulation, bogus science, and outright deception. The result is a fascinating and illuminating narrative history that underscores how we behave in the face of potential calamity – then and now. As the comet neared Earth, scientists and journalists alike scrambled to get the story straight as citizens the world over panicked. Popular astronomer Camille Flammarion attempted to allay fears in a newspaper article, but the media ignored his true position that passage would be harmless; weather prophet Irl Hicks, publisher of an annual, pseudo-scientific almanac, announced that the comet would disrupt the world’s weather; religious leaders thumbed the Bible’s Book of Revelation and wondered if the comet presaged the apocalypse. Newspapers, confident that there was gold in these alternate theories, gave every crackpot a megaphone, increasing circulation and stoking international hysteria. As a result, workmen shelved their tools, farmers refused to plant crops they would never harvest, and formerly reliable people stopped paying their creditors. More opportunistic citizens opened “comet insurance” plans. Others suffered mental breakdowns, and some took their own lives.
We will see how humans confront the unknown, how scientists learn about the world we inhabit, and how certain people—from outright hucksters to opportunistic journalists—harness fear to produce a profit.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Scott here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast.

0:08.0

Haley's comet visits the Earth every 75 years.

0:11.0

Until the modern era, humans thought they were a sign from the gods, or later on, an important

0:15.7

astrological event.

0:16.7

In 1705, Edmund Haley, three humanity from these superstitions, proving that Newtonian

0:22.0

physics brought comets past Earth rather than the will of God.

0:25.7

But despite these scientific advances, when Haley's comet returned in 1910, and astronomers

0:30.4

announced that Earth would pass through its poisonous tail, newspapers went all out sensational,

0:35.7

claiming that this could be the end of humanity itself, resulted in tragic consequences.

0:40.2

The frenzy, sparked by medium manipulation, resulted in all sorts of huxer schemes like

0:44.8

comet insurance for level ones that might die by being struck, or comet pills that would

0:49.8

protect its user from poisonous gases.

0:52.2

Those who sincerely thought they were in danger listened to preachers who claimed that

0:56.0

the comet resembled a prophecy from the book of revelations about stars falling from

0:59.8

the sky.

1:00.8

Workman shell their tools, farmers refuse to plant crops they would never harvest, and

1:04.3

people stop paying their creditors.

1:05.9

Today's episode I'm speaking with Richard Goodrich, author of comet madness, at the 1910

1:10.8

return of Haley's comet almost destroyed civilization.

1:13.6

We look at how in an era of scientific progress and education, people still fell to superstitions,

1:18.7

and how that same instinct lives in us today, and how we can react better to natural disasters

1:23.2

like this.

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