Reflections of Your Past LLC-Karen Biebel-Sutera

01/14/2024

I am experiencing so issues with FB/Meta. I apologize for any problems as a result of this. I am working to resolve as quickly as possible.

11/13/2023

In the pre-dawn hours of November 12, 1833, the sky over North America seemed to explode with falling stars. Unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, and visible over the entire continent, an Illinois newspaper reported “the very heavens seemed ablaze.” An Alabama newspaper described “thousands of luminous bodies shooting across the firmament in every direction.” Observers in Boston estimated that there were over 72,000 “falling stars” visible per hour during the remarkable celestial storm.

The Lakota people were so amazed by the event that they reset their calendar to commemorate it. Joseph Smith, traveling with Mormon refugees, noted in his diary that it was surely a sign of the Second Coming. Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, and Harriet Tubman, among many others, described seeing it. It became known as “The Night the Stars Fell.”

So, what was this amazing occurrence?

Many of those who witnessed it interpreted it as a sign of the Biblical end times, remembering words from the gospel of St. Mark: “And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.” But Yale astronomer Denison Olmsted sought a scientific explanation, and shortly afterwards he issued a call to the public—perhaps the first scientific crowd-sourced data gathering effort. At Olmsted’s request, newspapers across the country printed his call for data: “As the cause of ‘Falling Stars’ is not understood by meteorologists, it is desirable to collect all the facts attending this phenomenon, stated with as much precision as possible. The subscriber, therefore, requests to be informed of any particulars which were observed by others, respecting the time when it was first discovered, the position of the radiant point above mentioned, whether progressive or stationary, and of any other facts relative to the meteors.”

Olmsted published his conclusions the following years, the information he had received from lay observers having helped him draw new scientific conclusions in the study of meteors and meteor showers. He noted that the shower radiated from a point in the constellation Leo and speculated that it was caused by the earth passing through a cloud of space dust. The event, and the public’s fascination with it, caused a surge of interest in “citizen science” and significantly increased public scientific awareness.

Nowadays we know that every November the earth passes through the debris in the trail of a comet known as Tempel-Tuttle, causing the meteor showers we know as the Leonids. Impressive every year, every 33 year or so they are especially spectacular, although very rarely attaining the magnificence of the 1833 event.

The Leonid meteor showers are ongoing now and are expected to peak on November 18. But don’t expect a show like the one in 1833. This year at its peak the Leonids are expected to generate 15 “shooting stars” per hour.

November 12, 1833, one hundred ninety years ago today, was “The Night the Stars Fell.”

The image is an 1889 depiction of the event.

12/15/2022

On December 15th, 1620 the Mayflower left Cape Cod to head to Plymouth, after an exploration party had deemed it a good place to settle. As Mourt's Relation says "On the 15th day we weighed anchor, to go to the place we had discovered."

The ship was met that day with cross winds, but on the following day it finally reached it's destination: "Saturday the 16th day, the wind came fair and we put to sea again, and came safely into a safe harbor."

Image: They Fell Amongst Dangerous Shoals, by Mike Haywood.

02/27/2022

The 1950 census documented names, ages, occupations and more for over 150 million people. Here’s everything you need to know about using the 1950 census for genealogy research.

08/05/2021

Very important information if you have an Ancestry account with a family tree that you have uploaded items to. I personally am downloading to a file in my computer and deleting from Ancestry anything that was my own personal photos or documents. I am leaving the documents that have been originally found on Ancestry. Brian S. Miller

A shift in the terms of service Ancestry has just updated its terms of service and privacy statement -- again -- and this time there is a change buried deep in its language that is of significance to users. As of the change, effective yesterday (3 August 2021), a user can't change his or her m

03/30/2020

One of Connecticut’s greatest immigrant success stories began on this day when Russian-born Igor Sikorsky first arrived on American shores. While Sikorsky is best known as the inventor of the…

12/21/2019

What to eat and drink between Christmas and New Year following the Bel paese habits.

12/21/2019

Weihnachtspyramide, or Christmas Pyramids, were first created as a low-cost substitute for a real Christmas tree in the late 1700s. A traditional pyramid is made of wood and typically has from one to five levels. A fan at the top is spun by warm air from the lit candles.
Do you have a Christmas Pyramid?

12/08/2019

After a bone marrow transplant, a man with leukemia found that his donor’s DNA traveled to unexpected parts of his body. A crime lab is now studying the case.

11/21/2019

The first time American women fought in a war was during the American Civil War. Women were not allowed to be selected into the draft, so they disguised themselves as men and fought instead. A few of them were only discovered to be women when found dead. American women were only allowed to serve in....

11/21/2019

Although most Germans do speak English and you will most likely be understood should you require any assistance, it is much appreciated if you make an effort an