The Comet Panic of 1910, Revisited | Science History Institute

“Some farmers in Germany declined to plant crops that spring, reasoning that they would die before anything ripened. Creditors began defaulting on bank loans, deciding to live it up while they had time. Snake-oil salesmen peddled “comet pills” as a supposed antidote to celestial toxins. Bartenders promised similar protection: if you had enough scotch or whiskey in your bloodstream, they claimed, cyanogen couldn’t touch you. A broker in Los Angeles began selling “comet insurance,” offering $500 cash to the families of anyone killed by Halley’s passage.”

Read the Article | Distillations | Sam Kean

Thumbnail Image via Wikipedia Commons

Comet 1P/Halley as taken March 8, 1986 by W. Liller, Easter Island, part of the International Halley Watch (IHW) Large Scale Phenomena Network.

Date 8 March 1986 / Public Domain USA