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If there's one thing mankind has discovered, it's that
nature cannot be tamed. As last weekend's earthquake in Los Angeles and the recent "inland hurricane" in Southern Illinois proved, when Mother Nature
wants to do something, it's best to stay out of her way.
With that in mind, today we examine a few of the ways in which people have
coped with nature's whims.
The first took place on May 19, 1780. While the former British colonists of
New England were still fighting their Revolution, strange things were happening. For a couple of days
prior, the skies from Maine to New Jersey had been strangely colored -- yellow,
copper, and red
-- but in mid-morning of the 19th, those skies began to darken unnaturally to the point that, by noon (in most places), it was as
dark as midnight. Animals behaved strangely, and many humans panicked and flocked to religious services, believing the end of
the world had come. Those of a more scientific bent tried to determine what
had happened, but were baffled. By the next day, the darkness had dissipated
as mysteriously as it had come.
Modern scientists have examined "Dark Day" and are now pretty sure
(though not positive) that a combination of wet weather, Canadian forest fires,
and just-right winds created a "perfect storm,"
and a cloud cover so thick that sunlight was unable to provide illumination
to the region.
While 18th-century Americans were driven into confusion and terror by a
natural phenomenon, by the 20th century, Yankee ingenuity had figured out how
to capitalize on Mother Nature.
Halley's Comet paid the Earth a visit in 1910.
Even though it had been doing so with no harmful effects since at least 240 BCE,
the media got hold of the fact that the Earth would pass through the comet's tail on May 19th, and a minor worldwide panic ensued. Predictions of the damage that would be caused
were apocalyptic. It got even worse when scientists determined that the
comet's tail contained cyanogen gas -- similar to cyanide -- leading many to believe they'd
be poisoned. Panicked (again), Americans packed churches, stopped up their
doors and window with towels, and went insane from worry -- and (of course)
there was a land-office business in comet "cures," ranging from pills to inhalers to gas masks.
Of course, not everyone panicked, but even for those folks who kept their
heads, retailers and restaurateurs managed to capitalize on comet fever, with
souvenirs, postcards, pins, soaps, and even special dinners.
While we can't imagine that when the "Big One"
finally hits, folks will be flocking to buy souvenirs, we're pretty sure
that, given the vast number of scams
that popped up after Hurricane Katrina, American know-how will figure out a
way to make a buck.
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