Moonshine

It's gonna be a kick-ass moon tonight. A gift from Heaven at Christmas time.
Perfectly timed, as you would expect.

Tomorrow morning, early, for the first time in 372 years, since 1638, a total lunar eclipse will fall on the winter solstice. The eclipse begins at 2:32 a.m. (CST) and it will be total from 3:41 a.m. until 4:53 a.m.--a really long time, 72 minutes. (Story here and here.) And the show will be spectacular because the moon will take on a hue, anywhere from bright orange to red, depending the state of the Earth's atmosphere at the time. I'm gonna be up and so is my dearest spouse, somewhat of a surprise, actually. But I'll be delighted to share this with her. There's lots of good stuff on the Web about this, and if you're clouded over, you can watch the whole thing live via Google Earth.

Being a crazed historian, I got to thinking what was going on in the world in 1638, the last time this happened. So for your edification, a partial list:

• Dutch settle in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
• Welsh Puritan Roger Williams banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony; establishes Providence, RI, and proclaims complete religious freedom
• Tea appeared for the first time in Paris
• Manchus proclaims the Ch'ing Dynasty at Mukden
• Harvard College founded in Cambridge, MA
• Rembrandt: "Portrait of an 83-year-old Woman"//Van Dyck: "Charles I on Horseback"//Velazquez: "Prince Baltasar Carlos as a Hunter"

Portrait of an 83-year-old Woman

Charles I on Horseback

Prince Baltasar Carlos as a Hunter