November 12,
1799

First meteor shower on record

Andrew Ellicott Douglass, an early American astronomer born in
Vermont, witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the
Florida Keys. Douglass, who later became an assistant to the famous
astronomer Percival Lowell, wrote in his journal that the "whole heaven
appeared as if illuminated with sky rockets, flying in an infinity of
directions, and I was in constant expectation of some of them falling
on the vessel. They continued until put out by the light of the sun
after day break." Douglass’ journal entry is the first known record of
a meteor shower in North America.

The Leonids meteor shower is an
annual event that is greatly enhanced every 33 years or so by the
appearance of the comet Tempel-Tuttle. When the comet returns, the
Leonids can produce rates of up to several thousand meteors per hour
that can light up the sky on a clear night. Douglass witnessed one such
manifestation of the Leonids shower, and the subsequent return of the
comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1833 is credited as inspiring the first
organized study of meteor astronomy.

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