May
28
/ 2020
On this day, 28 May, in 585 BC, a fierce battle was underway in Asia Minor when the light vanished in the middle of the day causing the warring armies to lay down their arms and declare a truce. This famous solar eclipse was allegedly predicted by the Greek mathematician Thales of Miletus, and it provides a debatable calculation point for some major dates in ancient history. But how on Earth did he accomplish this incredible astronomical observation and subsequent prediction? The Violence of Ancient Astronomy Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Thales predicted a solar eclipse in a year when “the Medians and the Lydians were at war” and by reverse engineering the methodology used when calculating future eclipses, modern
