Laki Eruption in Iceland
June 8, 1783
The Laki fissure tore open and poured lava and poisonous gas across southeastern Iceland for eight months. A quarter of Iceland's population died; livestock perished by the hundreds of thousands. The sulfuric haze drifted across Europe, dimming the sun, killing crops, and contributing to the famine that helped ignite the French Revolution six years later.
In context
Also in 1783 (4 other events on record)
- Treaty of Paris Recognizes American Independence · North America · Politics
- First Manned Balloon Flight · Europe · Science
- Russia Annexes Crimea · Europe · Politics
- William Pitt the Younger Becomes Prime Minister · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Disaster
- Before: 1770: Great Bengal Famine
- After: September 14, 1812: Moscow Burns
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources