#23: The Leonid Meteor Shower

It’s safe to assume that meteor showers have always existed, just like solar eclipses. The main difference is how we respond to and understand them. One of the most famous meteor showers occurred on November 12, 1833 across North America. This meteor shower was so intense that people could see up to 100,000 meteors falling from the sky every hour. 

Meteor showers hadn’t been studied all that much by scientists at the time. Naturally, a lot of people thought it was the end of the world. We don’t blame them! Fiery streaks of light covering the sky sounds like a pretty awe-inspiring and terrifying experience, especially if people didn’t fully understand what was happening. This 1833 meteor shower was so large that it brought the natural phenomenon into public consciousness, causing more scientists to study it.