Of the eight ascending iterations on the Volcanic Explosiveness Index, the 1815 eruption on Tambora ranks a seven.
That achievement is unlocked by any blast in excess of 100 cubic kilometres of ejecta.
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It was some blast.
Now, you dont fire that much helldust into the sky without a little fallout.
The cold, dark months that followed were then called the year without a summer.
Its known as a volcanic winter.
The term nuclear winter, while perhaps more evocative, does not even come close.
The climatic effects were felt for years.
Why were they compelled to spook one another?
Its a tempting speculation that the darkness of the heavens had something to do with it.
Shelleys text refers to rain pouring from a black and comfortless sky while in the preamble to his story.
Much of the show is knowingly accurate about these characters.
In 1801, the British Army marched into Egypt and took control of it.
Not from the Egyptians, but from the French who were already there.
For the Victorians, Egypt offered a world of wonders that reflected their own heady times.
Quite flattering when you put it like that.
The iconography of Egypt informed museum exhibitions on art, literature and fashion.
For Sir Malcolm, the continent was simultaneously the source of his fortune and his ruin.
That is not to say that men were completely excluded from the pursuit.
The fascination with exciting things from the East and the South furnishPenny Dreadfulwith much of its material.
Some of it was decidedly western.
We first meet Ethan Chandler working as a sharp-shooter at a Wild West Show in London.
We are all living in the shadow of Tambora.
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