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June 4

June 4

June 4 is the 155th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (156th in leap years), with 210 days remaining.

Events

- 780 BC - The first historic solar eclipse is recorded in China.
- 1039 - Henry III becomes King of Germany.
- 1615 - Forces under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan.
- 1760 - Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia Canada taken from the Acadians.
- 1769 - A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in the historical past.
- 1792 - Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for Great Britain.
- 1794 - British troops capture Port-au-Prince in Haiti.
- 1812 - Following Louisiana's admittance as a U.S. state, the territory previously known by that name was renamed the Missouri Territory.
- 1859 - Italian Independence wars: in the Battle of Magenta, the French army, under Louis-Napoleon, defeats an Austrian army.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
- 1876 - An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, California, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after having left New York City.
- 1878 - Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.
- 1896 - Henry Ford test-drives the first automobile he designed – the Quadricycle (it was also the first automobile he ever drove).
- 1913 - Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby. She is trampled and dies a few days later, never having regained consciousness.
- 1917 - The very first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for a biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
- The Order of the British Empire is introduced.
- 1919 - Women's rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
- 1920 - Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.
- 1926 - Robert Earl Hughes sets current record for world's heaviest human.
- 1936 - Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1939 - Holocaust: The SS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, United States, after already having been turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, most of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.
- 1940 - The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers is published.
- World War II: Dunkirk evacuation ends; British forces complete evacuation of 300,000 troops from Dunkirk in France.
- The Destroyer War Badge for Kriegsmarine was instituted.
- 1942 - World War II: Reinhard Heydrich dies in Prague due to the assassination of Czechoslovak paratroopers (Operation Anthropoid).
- World War II: Battle of Midway begins. Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island with much of the Imperial Japanese navy.
- 1943 - Military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.
- 1944 - World War II: A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy capture the German submarine U-505, marking the first time a U.S. Navy vessel captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
- World War II: Rome falls to the Allies, the first Axis powers capital to fall.
- 1961 - Lake Bodom murders in Finland.
- 1970 - Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1973 - patent for the ATM granted to Don Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain.
- 1974 - Baseball: The Cleveland Indians host "Ten Cent Beer Night", but have to forfeit the game to the Texas Rangers due to drunken and unruly fans.
- 1986 - Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
- 1988 -The Canadian Heraldic Authority is founded.
- 1989 - The Tiananmen Square protests are suppressed in Beijing and are covered live on television.
- Solidarity's victory in the first partly free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe and leads to creation of the so-called Contract Sejm.
- Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
- 1991 - Britain's Conservative government announces that some British regiments would disappear or be merged into others – the largest armed forces cuts in almost twenty years.
- 1998 - Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
- 2003 - U.S. lifestyle guru Martha Stewart and her broker are indicted for using privileged investment information and then obstructing a federal investigation. Stewart also resigns as chairperson and chief executive officer of Martha Stewart Living.
- 2005 - First day of Einstein Symposium in Alexandria, Egypt.

Births

470 BC to 1899

- 470 BC - Socrates, Greek philosopher (d. 399 BC)
- 1489 - Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1544)
- 1665 - Zacharie Robutel de La Noue, Canadian soldier (d. 1733)
- 1694 - François Quesnay, French economist (d. 1774)
- 1704 - Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and manufacturer (d. 1776)
- 1738 - King George III of Great Britain (d. 1820)
- 1754 - Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian scientific editor and astronomer (d. 1832)
- 1801 - Sir James Pennethorne, English architect (d. 1871)
- 1821 - Apollon Maykov, Russian poet (d. 1897)
- 1867 - C.G.E. Mannerheim, President of Finland (d. 1951)
- 1877 - Heinrich Wieland, German biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)

1900 to 1999

- 1907 - Rosalind Russell, American actress (d. 1976)
- 1910 - Christopher Sydney Cockerell, British engineer and inventor (d. 1999)
- 1916 - Robert F. Furchgott, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1919 - Robert Merrill, American baritone (d. 2004)
- 1924 - Dennis Weaver, American actor
- 1926 - Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentine-Spanish footballer
- 1928 - Dr. Ruth Westheimer, German-American sex therapist and author
- 1932 - John Drew Barrymore, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1932 - Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer
- 1936 - Bruce Dern, American actor
- 1937 - Freddy Fender, American musician
- 1937 - Robert Fulghum, American author
- 1944 - Michelle Phillips, American actress, singer
- 1945 - Gordon Waller, Scottish musician (Peter and Gordon)
- 1947 - Viktor Klima, Chancellor of Austria
- 1952 - Parker Stevenson, American actor and director
- 1956 - Keith David, American actor
- 1956 - John Hockenberry, American journalist
- 1965 - Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer
- 1966 - Cecilia Bartoli, Italian mezzo-soprano
- 1966 - Tiffany Million, American actress
- 1966 - Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician
- 1969 - Horatio Sanz, Chilean-born comedian
- 1970 - David Pybus, British musician
- 1971 - Noah Wyle, American actor
- 1972 - Derian Hatcher, American hockey player
- 1974 - Andrew Gwynne, British politician
- 1975 - Angelina Jolie, American actress
- 1977 - Quinten Hann, Australian snooker player
- 1983 - Emmanuel Eboue, Ivory Coast footballer
- 1986 - Shane Kippel, Canadian actor

Deaths

1039 to 1899

- 1039 - Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1135 - Emperor Huizong of China (b. 1082)
- 1206 - Adèle of Champagne, queen of Louis VII of France
- 1257 - Duke Przemysl I of Poland
- 1394 - Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV of England
- 1463 - Flavio Biondo, Italian humanist (b. 1392)
- 1585 - Muretus, French humanist (b. 1526)
- 1663 - William Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1582)
- 1798 - Giacomo Casanova, Italian lover and writer (b. 1725)
- 1801 - Frederick Muhlenberg, first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1750)
- 1872 - Johan Rudolf Thorbecke, Dutch politician (d. 1798)
- 1875 - Eduard Mörike, German poet (b. 1804)

1900 to 1999

- 1928 - Chang Tso-lin, Chinese warlord (b. 1873)
- 1939 - Tommy Ladnier, American musician (b. 1900)
- 1941 - Kaiser Wilhelm II, last German emperor (b. 1859)
- 1942 - Reinhard Heydrich, Nazi official (b. 1904)
- 1951 - Serge Koussevitsky, Russian conductor (b. 1874)
- 1964 - Samuil Marshak, Russian poet (b. 1887)
- 1968 - Dorothy Gish, American actress (b. 1898)
- 1971 - Georg Lukács, Hungarian philosopher (b. 1885)
- 1973 - Maurice René Fréchet, French mathematician (b. 1878)
- 1990 - Stiv Bators, American musician (The Dead Boys) (b. 1949)

2000 onwards

- 2001 - King Dipendra of Nepal (b. 1971)
- 2001 - John Hartford, American musician, composer (b. 1937)
- 2002 - Fernando Belaúnde Terry, President of Peru (b. 1912)
- 2004 - Steve Lacy, American saxophonist (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances

- Feast day of St Francis Caracciolo
- Feast day of Saint Petrock of Cornwall
- International Innocent Child Abuse Victim Day
- Tonga - National Day
- Finland - National flag day of the Finnish Defence Forces (on Mannerheim's birthday)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/4 BBC: On This Day] ---- June 3 - June 5 - May 4 - July 4 – listing of all days ko:6월 4일 ms:4 Jun ja:6月4日 simple:June 4 th:4 มิถุนายน

June 4

June 4 is the 155th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (156th in leap years), with 210 days remaining.

Events

Births

470 BC to 1899

1900 to 1999

Deaths

1039 to 1899

1900 to 1999

2000 onwards

Holidays and observances

External links

Leap year

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day or month in order to keep the calendar year in sync with an astronomical or seasonal year. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. Leap years (which keep the calendar in sync with the year) should not be confused with leap seconds (which keep clock time in sync with the day).

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for century years (those ending in -00), which receive the extra day only if they are evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1996 was a leap year whereas 1999 was not, and 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not. The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:
- The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.
- The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
- The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days. This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years' time the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount we can't accurately predict (see below). So the Gregorian leap year rule does a good enough job. Image:Gregoriancalendarleap.png

Which day is the leap day?

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunar calendar (though from the 5th century BC it no longer followed the real moon) and named its days after three of the phases of the moon: the new moon (calends, hence "calendar"), the first quarter (nones) and the full moon (ides). Days were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum calendas martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March"). Since 45 BC, February in a leap year had two days called "the sixth day before the calends of March". The extra day was originally the second of these, but since the third century it was the first. Hence the term bissextile day for 24 February in a bissextile year. Where this custom is followed, anniversaries after the inserted day are moved in leap years. For example, the former feast day of Saint Matthias, 24 February in ordinary years, would be 25 February in leap years. This historical nicety is, however, in the process of being discarded: The European Union declared that, starting in 2000, 29 February rather than 24 February would be leap day, and the Roman Catholic Church also now uses 29 February as leap day. The only tangible difference is felt in countries that celebrate feast days.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. The excess of about 0.0076 days with respect to the vernal equinox year means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar every 130 years or so.

Revised Julian Calendar

The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with the those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222… days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox tropical year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar of keeping the vernal equinox on or close to 21 March.

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar the leap month is added according to a complicated rule, which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month then it is simply called "leap second month".

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also lunisolar with an embolistic month. In the Hebrew calendar the extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Sheni (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years, specifically, in years, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. The year before the postponement gets one or two extra days, and the year whose start is postponed loses one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting day of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath.

Hindu Calendar

In the Hindu calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, the embolismic month is called adhika maas (extra month). It is the month in which the sun is in the same sign of the stellar zodiac on two consecutive dark moons.

Iranian calendar

The Iranian calendar also has a single intercalated day once in every four years, but every 33 years or so the leap years will be five years apart instead of four years apart. The system used is more accurate and more complicated, and is based on the time of the March equinox as observed from Teheran. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 or 37 years.

Long term leap year rules

The accumulated difference between the Gregorian calendar and the vernal equinoctial year amounts to 1 day in about 8,000 years. This suggests that the calendar needs to be improved by another refinement to the leap year rule: perhaps by avoiding leap years in years divisible by 8,000. (The most common such proposal is to avoid leap years in years divisible by 4,000 [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gregorian+calendar%22+error+%22leap+year%22+4000]. This is based on the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the mean tropical year. Others claim, erroneously, that the Gregorian calendar itself already contains a refinement of this kind [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html].) However, there is little point in planning a calendar so far ahead because over a timescale of tens of thousands of years the number of days in a year will change for a number of reasons, most notably: #Precession of the equinoxes moves the position of the vernal equinox with respect to perihelion and so changes the length of the vernal equinoctial year. #Tidal acceleration from the sun and moon slows the rotation of the earth, making the day longer. In particular, the second component of change depends on such things as post-glacial rebound and sea level rise due to climate change. We can't predict these changes accurately enough to be able to make a calendar that will be accurate to a day in tens of thousands of years.

Marriage proposal

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in 5th century Ireland, whereby women may only make marriage proposals in leap years.

Saint Patrick and the leap year

:Saint Patrick, having driven the frogs out of the bogs was walking along the shores of Lough Neagh, when he was accosted by Saint Bridget in tears, and was told that a mutiny had broken out in the nunnery over which she presided, the ladies claiming the right of popping the question. :Saint Patrick said he would concede them the right every seventh year, when Saint Bridget threw her arms round his neck, and exclaimed, "Arrah, Pathrick, jewel, I daurn't go back to the girls wid such a proposal. Make it one year in four." Saint Patrick replied, "Bridget, acushla, squeeze me that way again, an' I'll give ye leap-year, the longest of the lot." Saint Bridget, upon this, popped the question to St Patrick himself, who, of course, could not marry: so he patched up the difficulty as best he could with a kiss and a silk gown. (Source: Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988) According to a 1288 law in Scotland, fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a silk gown to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Birthdays

A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Category:Calendars Category:Units of time als:Schaltjahr ko:윤년 ja:閏年 simple:Leap year th:ปีอธิกสุรทิน

Solar eclipse

eclipse]] A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and obscures it totally or partially. This configuration can only exist at New Moon, when Sun, Moon and Earth are on a single line with the Moon in the middle. There are four types of solar eclipses:
- A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Sun is only partially overlapped by the Moon. This is similar to a (lunar) penumbral eclipse, and the part of the Earth experiencing the total eclipse is in the moon's penumbra.
- A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon completely obscures the Sun. This happens when the Moon is near perigee and its angular diameter as seen from Earth is identical to or slightly larger than that of the Sun. The part of the Earth experiencing the total eclipse is in the moon's umbra. A total solar eclipse is the only opportunity to observe the Sun's corona without specialised equipment.
- An annular (ring-formed) eclipse occurs when the Moon's center passes in front of Sun's center while the Moon is near apogee. The Moon's angular diameter is then smaller than that of the Sun so that a ring of the Sun can still be seen around the Moon. The part of the Earth experiencing the total eclipse is in the moon's antumbra.
- A hybrid eclipse occurs when the curvature of Earth's surface causes a single solar eclipse to be observed as annular from some locations but total from other locations. A total eclipse is seen from places on the Earth's surface that lie along the path of the eclipse and are physically closer to the Moon, and so intersect the Moon's umbra; other locations, further from the Moon, fall in the Moon's antumbra and the eclipse is annular. antumbra 1999 eclipse]] The term "solar eclipse" is a misnomer: the phenomenon is actually an occultation. An "eclipse" occurs when one celestial object passes into the shadow cast by another (as with an eclipse of the Moon). An "occultation' occurs when one body passes in front of another. When at its new phase the Moon passes in front of, or occults, the Sun, as seen from Earth, the Moon also casts a small shadow on Earth. An "occultation" of the Sun is therefore also a partial "eclipse" of Earth. occultation annular eclipse]] occultation) during the October 3 2005 annular eclipse]] 2005 2005

Observing a solar eclipse

2005]] Looking at the Sun is dangerous at any time when any part of the brilliant visible disk of the Sun (its photosphere) is visible; to do so can cause permanent eye damage. This is true at any time, including during solar eclipses; since an eclipse offers an unusually high temptation to look at the Sun, there is a high incidence of eye damage caused during solar eclipses. Viewing the Sun through any kind of optical aid —binoculars, a telescope, or even a camera's viewfinder— is extremely dangerous.

Safe Solar Viewing

- NEVER look directly at the sun with binoculars or telescope etc - NEVER even look at the sun with the naked eye - Eye damage will result, which may cause permanent blindness! The Sun can be viewed using appropriate filtration to block the harmful part of the Sun's radiation. Note that sunglasses are of little use, since they don't block the harmful and invisible infra-red radiation which causes retinal damage; other improvised methods, such as using a reflection in water, or looking through a compact disk, are equally dangerous. Only properly designed and certified solar filters should ever be used for direct viewing of the Sun; and these must be in perfect condition, as even a small defect could cause damage. The safest way to view the Sun is by indirect projection. This can be done by projecting an image of the sun onto a white piece of paper or card using a pair of binoculars (with one of the lenses covered), a telescope, or another piece of cardboard with a small hole in it (about 1 mm diameter), often called a pinhole camera. The projected image of the sun can then be safely viewed; this technique can be used to observe sunspots, as well as eclipses. However, care must be taken to ensure that no-one looks through the projector (telescope, pinhole, etc.) directly, as this will cause severe eye damage; particular care should be taken if children are present. It is safe to directly observe the total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Sun's photosphere is completely covered by the Moon; indeed, this is a very beautiful sight. The Sun's faint corona will be visible, and even the chromosphere, solar prominences, and possibly even a solar flare may be visible. The danger here is of being caught out by the end of the total phase, and the return of the "exposed" Sun; because all parts of the Sun's disk are of similar intensity, even a tiny sliver of the Sun could cause permanent eye damage. For this reason, viewing the total phase of a solar eclipse through binoculars or a telescope should not be recommended. For more information on safe eclipse viewing, see:
- [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/safety.html Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses], Fred Espenak, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- [http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/eclipses/article_609_1.asp How to Watch a Partial Solar Eclipse Safely], Alan M. MacRobert, Sky & Telescope magazine

Eclipse frequency and cause

solar flare Total and annular eclipses both occur when the Moon lines up with the Sun exactly, but since the Moon's orbit is not perfectly circular it is sometimes farther away from Earth and doesn't always cover the entire solar disc from Earth's point of view. It is one of the most remarkable coincidences of nature that the Sun lies approximately 400 times as far away from Earth as does the Moon, and the Sun is also approximately 400 times as large in diameter as the Moon. As a result, as seen from Earth, the Sun and the Moon appear to be nearly the same apparent size. The Moon orbits Earth in an elliptical, or elongated orbit, however, and not in a circular orbit. Thus during about 55-60% of its orbit the Moon is far enough from Earth ("apogee") that it is too small to cover the Sun's surface completely. During the remaining portion of its orbit, it is closer to Earth ("perigee") and large enough in apparent size to cover the Sun completely. When a solar eclipse occurs near apogee, there is therefore a small ring or annulus of Sun that remains uncovered even at the moment of maxiumum eclipse. This produces an "annular" eclipse, during which the brilliant and blinding uncovered ring of the Sun makes the solar corona invisible. When a solar eclipse occurs near perigee, however, the Moon is close enough to Earth and large enough in the sky that it can cover the entire bright surface (the photosphere) of the Sun completely, and the observer sees a total eclipse, at which time the ghostly white solar corona appears. A solar eclipse can only be seen in a band across Earth as the Moon's shadow moves across its surface, while a total or annular eclipse is actually total or ring-formed in only a small band within this band (the eclipse path), and partial elsewhere (total eclipse takes place where the umbra of the Moon's shadow falls, whereas a partial eclipse is visible where the penumbra falls). The full band is generally around 100 km in width. The eclipse path will be widest if the Moon happens to be at perigee, in which case the eclipse path alone can reach 270 km in width. Total solar eclipses are rare events. Although they occur somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 months, it has been estimated that they recur at any given spot only every 300 to 400 years. And after waiting so long, the total solar eclipse only lasts for a few minutes, as the Moon's umbra moves eastward at over 1700 km/h. Totality can never last more than 7 min 40 s, and is usually a good deal shorter. During each millennium there are typically fewer than 10 total solar eclipses exceeding 7 minutes. The last time this happened was June 30, 1973. Observers aboard a Concorde jet were able to stretch totality to about 74 minutes by flying along the path of the Moon's umbra. Those alive today probably won't live to see it happen again — on June 25, 2150. The longest total solar eclipse during the 8,000-year period from 3000 BC to 5000 AD will occur on July 16, 2186, when totality will last 7 min 29 s. (eclipse predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC.) For astronomers, a total solar eclipse forms a rare opportunity to observe the corona (the outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere). Normally this is not visible because the photosphere is much brighter than the corona.

Calculating the date of a solar eclipse

If you know the date and time of a solar eclipse, you can predict other eclipses using eclipse cycles. Two well-known eclipse cycles are the Saros cycle and the Inex cycle. The Saros cycle is probably the most well known, and one of the best, eclipse cycles. The Inex cycle is itself a poor cycle, but it is very convenient in the classification of eclipse cycles. After a Saros cycle finishes, a new Saros cycle begins 1 Inex later (hence its name: in-ex). Inex

Historical solar eclipses

In the Odyssey, XIV, 151, Homer states that Odysseus will return to his home, and take vengeance on the suitors of Penelope, at the failing of the old moon and the coming of the new. Later in the Odyssey (XX, 356-357 and 390), Homer adds that the Sun vanished out of heaven and an evil gloom covered all things about the hour of the midday meal, during the celebration of the new moon. A total eclipse of the Sun was visible from the Greek island of Ithaca on April 16, 1178 BC. This would be six years after the end of the Trojan War, as traditionally dated (1184 BC), though within the Odyssey narrative it is ten years after the war. 1184 BC text]] A solar eclipse of 15 June, 763 BC mentioned in an Assyrian text is important for the Chronology of the Ancient Orient. A double (solar and lunar) eclipse took place 23 years after the ascension of king Shulgi of Babylon. This has been identified with eclipses that occurred on 9 May (solar eclipse) and 24 May (lunar eclipse), 2138 BC . This identification is however much less commonly accepted than the eclipse of 763 BC. See also Chronology of Babylonia and Assyria. On June 4, 780 BC a solar eclipse was recorded in China. Herodotus wrote that Thales of Milete predicted an eclipse which occurred during a war between the Medians and the Lydians. Soldiers on both sides put down their weapons and declared peace as a result of the eclipse. Exactly which eclipse was involved has remained uncertain, although the issue has been studied by hundreds of ancient and modern authorities. One likely candidate took place on May 28, 585 BC, probably near the Halys river in the middle of modern Turkey. An annular eclipse of the Sun occurred at Sardis on February 17, 478 BC, while Xerxes was departing for his expedition against Greece, as Herodotus, VII, 37 recorded ([Hind and Chambers, 1889: 323] considered this absolute date more than a century ago). Herodotus (book IX, 10, book VIII, 131, and book IX, 1) reports that another solar eclipse was observed in Sparta during the next year, on August 1, 477 BC. The sky suddenly darkened in the middle of the sky, well after the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis, after the departure of Mardonius to Thessaly at the beginning of the spring of (477 BC) and his second attack on Athens, after the return of Cleombrotus to Sparta. Note that the modern conventional dates are different by a year or two, and that these two eclipse records have been ignored so far. The foundation of Rome took place 437 years after the capture of Troy (1182 BC), according to Velleius Paterculus (VIII, 5). It took place shortly before an eclipse of the Sun that was observed at Rome on June 25, 745 BC and had a magnitude of 50.3%. Its beginning occurred at 16:38, its middle at 17:28, and its end at 18:16. Varro may have used the consular list with its mistakes, calling the year of the first consuls "245 ab urbe condita" (a.u.c.). A new study claims that the Varronian date has been superseded. Its correctness has not been proved scientifically but it is used worldwide. According to Lucius Tarrutius of Firmum, Romulus was conceived in the womb on the 23rd day of the Egyptian month Choiac, at the time of a total eclipse of the Sun. This eclipse occurred on June 15, 763 BC, with a magnitude of 62.5% at Rome. Its beginning took place at 6:49, its middle at 7:47 and its end at 8:51. He was born on the 21st day of the month of Thoth. The first day of Thoth fell on 2 March in that year (Prof. E. J. Bickerman, 1980: 115). That implies that Rhea Silvia's pregnancy lasted for 281 days. Rome was founded on the ninth day of the month Pharmuthi, which was April 21, as universally agreed. The Romans add that, about the time Romulus started to build the city, an eclipse of the Sun was observed by Antimachus, the Teian poet, on the 30th day of the lunar month. This eclipse (see above) had a magnitude of 54.6% at Teos, Asia Minor. It started at 17:49 and was still eclipsed at sunset, at 19:20. Romulus vanished in the 54th year of his life, on the Nones of Quintilis (July), on a day when the Sun was darkened. The day turned into night, which sudden darkness was believed to be an eclipse of the Sun. It occurred on July 17, 709 BC, with a magnitude of 93.7%, beginning at 5:04 and ending at 6:57. All these eclipse data have been calculated by Prof. Aurél Ponori-Thewrewk, retired director of the Planetarium of Budapest. Plutarch placed it in the 37th year from the foundation of Rome, on the fifth of our month July, then called Quintilis, on "Caprotine Nones". Livy (I, 21) also states that Romulus ruled for 37 years. He was slain by the Senate or disappeared in the 38th year of his reign. Most of these have been recorded by Plutarch (Lives of Romulus, Numa Pompilius and Camillus), Florus (Book I, I), Cicero (The Republic VI, 22: Scipio's Dream), Dio (Dion) Cassius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (L. 2). Dio in his Roman History (Book I) confirms these data by telling that Romulus was in his 18th year of age when he founded Rome. Therefore, three eclipse records prove that Romulus reigned from 746 BC to 709 BC. 709 BC

Observations

During a solar eclipse special observations can be done with the unaided eye. Normally the spots of light which fall through the small openings between the leaves of a tree, have a circular shape. These are images of the sun. During a partial eclipse, the light spots will show the partial shape of the sun, as seen on the picture.

Special observation campaigns

- May 30, 1965: Launch of rockets at Charlestown, USA
- May 20, 1966: Launch of rockets at Karystos, Greece to watch the solar eclipse
- November 12, 1966: Launch of two Titus-rockets fom Las Palmas, Argentina
- February 26, 1979: Launch of rockets from Red Lake, Canada
- February 16, 1980: Launch of rockets from San Marco platform

Solar eclipse before sunrise or after sunset

It is possible for a solar eclipse to attain totality (or in the event of a partial eclipse, near totality) before sunrise or after sunset from a particular location. When this occurs shortly before the former or after the latter, the sky will appear much darker than it would otherwise be immediately before sunrise or after sunset. On these occasions, an object — especially a planet (often Mercury) — may be visible near the sunrise or sunset point of the horizon when it could not have been seen without the eclipse.

Simultaneous occurrence of solar eclipse and transit of a planet

In principle, the simultaneous occurrence of a Solar eclipse and a transit of a planet is possible. But these events are extremely rare because of their short durations. The next anticipated simultaneous occurrence of a Solar eclipse and a transit of Mercury will be on July 5, 6757, and of a Solar eclipse and a transit of Venus is expected on April 5, 15232. Only 5 hours after the transit of Venus on June 4, 1769 there was a total solar eclipse, which was visible in Northern America, Europe and Northern Asia as partial solar eclipse. This was the lowest time difference between a transit of a planet and a solar eclipse in the historical past. More common — but still quite rare — is a conjunction of any planet (not confined exclusively to Mercury or Venus) concomitant with a total solar eclipse, in which event the planet will be visible very near the eclipsed Sun, when without the eclipse it would have been lost in the Sun's glare (unless the line-up of it and the Sun was so exact that the Sun occulted it). At one time, some scientists — including Albert Einstein — hypothesized that there may have been a planet even closer to the Sun than Mercury; the only way to confirm its existence would have been to observe it during a total solar eclipse. When no such planet was found during such an eclipse, the possibility of its existence was ruled out.

Solar eclipses by artificial satellites

Artificial satellites can also get in the line between Earth and Sun. But none are large enough to cause an eclipse. At the altitude of the International Space Station, for example, an object would need to be about 3.35 km across to blot the Sun out entirely. This means the best you can get is a satellite transit, but these events are difficult to watch, because the zone of visibility is very small. The satellite passes over the face of the Sun in about a second, typically. Like a transit of a planet it will not get dark. [http://eclipse.astronomie.info/transit/venus/isstransit/isstransit.html]

Past and future eclipses

Although there is a total eclipse visible somewhere on Earth most years, some are more conveniently observed than others. Eclipses where the path of totality crosses major population centres generate the most interest in the general public. Selected past and upcoming eclipses are: (
- ) Duration of central eclipse.

External links

- [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/safety.html Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses], Fred Espenak, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- [http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/eclipses/article_609_1.asp How to Watch a Partial Solar Eclipse Safely], Alan M. MacRobert, Sky & Telescope magazine
- [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/319/7208/469 UK hospitals assess eye damage after solar eclipse], British Medical Journal, 21 August 1999; pp 319-469
- [http://www.hermit.org/Eclipse/ Detailed eclipse explanations and predictions] by Hermit Eclipse
- [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/ NASA's Eclipse Home Page]
- [http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990830.html APOD 8/30/99 - Solar eclipse viewed from Mir Space Craft]
- [http://www.zam.fme.vutbr.cz/~druck/Eclipse/ Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site]
- [http://eclipse.span.ch/eclipse8april.htm Pictures of the 2005-04-08 eclipse]
- [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEatlas/SEatlas.html World Atlas of Solar Eclipse Paths] by Fred Espenak
- Wikisource has some detailed information about recently solar eclipses as seen from [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Solar_eclipses_as_seen_from_Beijing Beijing], [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Solar_eclipses_as_seen_from_Shanghai Shanghai] and [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Solar_eclipses_as_seen_from_Tianjin Tianjin] Category:Solar System Category:Eclipses ko:일식 ms:Gerhana matahari ja:日食 th:สุริยุปราคา

China

to protect the north from nomadic invaders and has been rebuilt several times since.]] China () refers to a number of states and cultures that have existed and are viewed as having succeeded one another in continental East Asia, dating back at least 3,500 years. China as it exists today has been variously described in different points of view as a single civilization or multiple civilizations, as a single state or multiple states, and as a single nation or multiple nations. With one of the world's longest periods of mostly uninterrupted civilization and the world's longest continuously used written language system, China's history has been largely characterized by repeated divisions and reunifications amid alternating periods of peace and war, and violent imperial dynastic change. The country's territorial extent expanded outwards from a core area in the North China Plain, and varied according to its moving fortunes to include multiple regions of East, Northeast, and Central Asia. For centuries, Imperial China was also one of the world's most technologically advanced civilizations, and East Asia's dominant cultural influence, with an impact lasting to the present day throughout the region. By the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, China's political, economic, and military influence declined relative to growing regional power Japan and the influence of Western powers. Semi-colonialism developed by the late nineteenth century in parts of China, and the country was invaded by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The imperial system in China ended with the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC) under Sun Yat-sen in 1912; however, the next four decades of ROC rule were marred by warlord control, the Second Sino-Japanese War (WWII), and the Chinese Civil War which pitted Chinese Nationalists against the Communist forces. After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, forcing the Republic of China (ROC) to retreat to the island of Taiwan, which it had governed since the end of World War II. Since then, the ROC has maintained administrative control over Taiwan, the Pescadores, several islands off the coast of Fujian province, and some islands in the South China Sea.

Terminology

"Zhongguo"

South China Sea China is called Zhongguo in Mandarin Chinese (Simplified: 中国, Traditional: 中國; also romanized as Jhongguo or Chung-kuo), which is usually translated as "Middle Kingdom", but could also be translated as "Central State" or "Central Country". Zhong (中) means "middle" or "center" while guo (国 or 國) means "country," "kingdom," "state," or "land", referring to the claim that China stood at the centre of that society's "known world", surrounded by lesser tributary states. The term has not been used consistently throughout Chinese history, however, and carries certain cultural and political connotations both positive and negative, some ideological, and early states considered part of Chinese history are not called "Zhongguo". During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was used only to describe the states politically descended from the Western Zhou Dynasty, in the Yellow River (Huang He) valley, to the exclusion of states such as Chu and Qin. The "Chinese" thus defined their nation as culturally and politically distinct from - and as the axis mundi of surrounding nations; a concept that continued well into the Qing Dynasty, although being continually redefined while the central political influence expanded territorially, and its culture assimilated alien influences. Thus Zhongguo quickly came to include areas farther south, as the cultural and political unit (not yet a "nation" or "country" in the modern sense) spread in a southerly direction, including the Yangtze River and Pearl River systems, and by the Tang Dynasty it even included "barbarian" regimes such as the Xianbei and Xiongnu. Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet, and the island of Taiwan, over time, came to be dominated (to a greater or lesser extent) by, or officially ruled by, imperial China, and are often included as a part of Zhongguo, though acceptance or denial of such claims remains politically controversial, especially where Zhongguo means PRC. During the Han Dynasty and before, Zhongguo had three distinctive meanings: # The area around the capital or imperial domain. The Book of Poetry explicitly gives this definition. # Territories under the direct authority of the "central" authorities. The Historical Records states: "Eight mountains are famed in the empire. Three are with the Man and Yi barbarians. Five are in Zhongguo." # The area now called the North China Plain. The Sanguo Zhi records the following monologue: "If we can lead the host of Wu and Yue (the area of southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) to oppose Zhongguo, then we should break off relations with them soon." In this sense, the term is synonymous with Hua (華) and Xia (夏). During the period of division after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the term Zhongguo was subjected to transformation as a result of the surge of nomadic peoples from the northern frontier. This was doubly so after the loss of the Yellow River valley, the cradle of Chinese civilization, to these peoples. For example, the Xianbei called their Northern Wei regime Zhongguo, contrasting it with the Southern Dynasties, which they called the Yi (夷), meaning "barbarian". The southern dynasties, for their part, recently exiled from the north, called the Northern Wei Lu (虏), meaning "criminal" or "prisoner". In this way Zhongguo came to represent political legitimacy. It was used in this manner from the tenth century onwards by the competing dynasties of Liao, Jin and Song. The term Zhongguo came to be related to geographic, cultural and political identity and less to ethnic origin. The Republic of China, as it controlled mainland China, and later, the People's Republic of China, have used Zhongguo as an entity existing theoretically to mean all the territories and peoples within their political control as well as those outside of it (people in the Republic of China on Taiwan now usually use Zhongguo to refer to the PRC and use Taiwan to refer to itself). Thus it is asserted that all 56 officially recognized ethnic groups are Zhongguo ren (中國人), or Zhongguo people. Their disparate histories are collectively the history of Zhongguo.

"China"

Song in ancient times, was the imperial capital of 13 different historical dynasties (including the Han and Tang dynasties) in China.]] English and many other languages use forms of the name China (and the prefix Sino-), which is believed to have derived from the name of the Qin dynasty that first unified the country, even though it is not completely resolved and the origins are still controversial to an extent [http://www.bartleby.com/61/80/C0298000.html]. Despite the fact that the Qin dynasty was short-lived and was often regarded as overly tyrannical it unified the written language in China and gave the supreme ruler of China the title of "Emperor", hence, the subsequent Silk Road traders would identify themselves by that name. Alternate theories on the origin of the word "China" exist. In any circumstance, the word China passed through many languages along the Silk Road before it finally reached Europe and England. The Western "China", transliterated to Shina (支那) has also been used by Japanese since the nineteenth century, and has since evolved into a derogatory term in that language. The term "China" can narrowly mean China proper, or, often, China proper and Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang, a combination essentially coterminous with the 20th and 21st century political entity China; the boundaries between these regions do not necessarily follow provincial boundaries. In many contexts, "China" is commonly used to refer to the People's Republic of China or mainland China, while "Taiwan" is used to refer to the Republic of China. Informally, in economic or business contexts, "the Greater China region" (大中華地區) refers to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Sinologists usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, more akin to the classical usage of Zhongguo, or to the meaning of the "Han ethnic group", who make up the bulk of Mainland China. In many contexts it may be more appropriate to speak of "mainland China" (中國大陸,zhōngguó dàlù in Mandarin), especially when contrasting it with other, politically different regions like Hong Kong, Macau, and territories administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan).

History

:Main articles: History of China, History of the Republic of China (1912–1949; 1949–Present on Taiwan), History of People's Republic of China (1949–Present) History of People's Republic of China China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing independently, the others being ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerians), India (Indus Valley Civilization), the Mayans, and, some hold, Ancient Egypt—though it may have been learned from the Sumerians. The first dynasty according to Chinese historical sources was the Xia Dynasty. Until scientific excavations were made at early bronze-age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province, it was difficult to separate myth from reality in regard to the existence of the Xia Dynasty. But since then, archaeologists have uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs that point to the possible existence of the Xia dynasty at the same locations cited in ancient Chinese historical texts. However, the first confirmed dynasty is the Shang, who settled along the Huang He river, dating from the 18th to the 12th centuries BC. The Shang were in turn invaded by the Zhou (12th to 5th centuries BC), whose centralized authority was slowly eroded by the ceding of state-like authority to warlords ruling small states; eventually, in the Spring and Autumn period, many strong independent states, in continuous war, paid but nominal deference to the Zhou state as the Imperial centre. They were all unified under one emperor in 221 BC by Qin Shi Huang, ushering in the Qin Dynasty, the first unified centralized Chinese state. This state, however, did not last for long, as it was way too authoritarian, destroying many sources of competition for power that were also sources of good governance and development, such as scholars and intellectuals. After the fall of authoritarian Qin Dynasty in 207 BC came the Han Dynasty which lasted until 220 AD. A period of disunion followed again. In 580, China was reunited under the Sui. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, China reached its golden age. For a long period of time, especially between the 7th and 14th centuries, China was one of the most advanced civilizations in the world in technology, literature, and art. The Song Dynasty fell to the invading Mongols in 1279. The Mongols, under Kublai Khan, established the Yuan Dynasty. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongols in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty, which lasted until 1644. After the Ming dynasty, came the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, which lasted until the overthrow of Puyi in 1911. Oftentimes regime change was violent and strongly opposed and the ruler class needed to take special measures to ensure their rule and the loyalty of the overthrown dynasty. For example, after the foreign Qing (Manchus) conquered China, because they were ever suspicious of the Han Chinese, the Qing rulers put into effect measures aimed at preventing the absorption of the Manchus into the dominant Han Chinese population. However, these restrictions proved ineffective against the assimilation of Manchus into the Chinese identity and culture. In the 18th century, China achieved a decisive technological advantage over the peoples of Central Asia, which it had been at war with for several centuries, while simultaneously falling behind Europe in that respect. This set the stage for the 19th century, in which China adopted a defensive posture against European imperialism while itself engaging in imperialistic expansion into Central Asia. See Imperialism in Asia. However the primary cause of the decline of the Chinese empire was not European and American interference, as the ethnocentric Western historians would lead many to believe. On the contrary it was a series of internal upheavals. Most prominent of these was the Taiping Civil War which lasted from 1851 to 1862. The civil war was started by an extremist believer in a school of thought partly influenced by Christianity who believed himself to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the imperial forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history - costing at least twenty million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in the First World War). Prior to this conflict a number of Islamic Rebellions, especially in Central Asia, had occurred. Later, a second major rebellion took place, although this latter uprising was considerably smaller than the cataclysmic Taiping Civil War. This second conflict was the Boxer Rebellion which aimed to repel Westerners. Although secretly supporting the rebels, the Empress, Ci Xi, aided foreign forces in suppressing the uprising. Ci X