“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.”