The eclipse of March 16, 1485, spelled bad news for both the king and queen of England -- as least in the minds of those who believed in such celestial omens. Credit: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
On March 16, 1485, a solar eclipse darkened skies around the globe: The shadow first fell over the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of South America, reaching its longest duration of 4 minutes 53 seconds over the Atlantic before moving across land and ending in Eastern Europe. Although England didn’t see totality, viewers took particular note of the partial eclipse, which occurred the same day Queen Anne Neville died, likely of tuberculosis. When King Richard died in August of the same year, commentators noted that the eclipse on the day of his wife’s death must have been a dark portent of his own death in the Battle of Bosworth five months later.
