New England's Dark Day

Date: May 19, 1780 • Location: Fryeburg, United States

A combination of thick smoke, fog, and heavy cloud cover caused darkness to fall on parts of Canada and the New England area of the United States by noon.

New England's Dark Day occurred on May 19, 1780, when an unusual darkening of the daytime sky was observed over the New England states and parts of eastern Canada. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon on. It did not disperse until the middle of the next night.