June 6th 1456 was the 23rd recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. (Perihelion is the point in the path of a moving object at which it is closest to the sun. I looked it up.)How many ways did Halley's freak people out? Let us count a few.
141 Comet is blamed for a plague.
451 Blamed as the cause of death of 150,000 soldiers at the Battle of Chalons when the Romans defeated Attila the Hun and Co. But they didn't get Attila.
470 The comet is blamed for a terrible winter. The comet came by in the spring. Go figure.
530 Plague 2
837 The death of King Louis of France is linked to Halley's.
Perhaps the oddest and least credible: in 1456 Pope Callixtus III is said to have excommunicated the comet. It's a wonder Halley's has had the nerve to show it's face since then.
Source: The official Halley's Comet book
Read more in these Books about Comets
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