The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress

The Dark Day and Night

On the 19th of May, 1780, the sun was supernaturally darkened. It was no eclipse, as the moon had fulled the day before. Notwithstanding this there was a darkness over all the northeastern portion of the United States from eleven o’clock in the morning until eleven o’clock at night. On that occasion not only was the sun darkened, but the moon refused to reflect the light of the sun. It was a darkness that prevented the sun from shining on the disc of the moon. And as expressed by Noah Webster, many years after, “No satisfactory reason has ever been assigned for this darkness.” GSAM 94.3

Of this dark day Herschel, the astronomer, said: “The Dark Day in North America was one of those wonderful phenomena of nature which will always be read of with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss to explain.” GSAM 95.1

Those describing the darkness of the night of May 19, 1780, said, notwithstanding there was a full moon, that “if every luminous body in the universe had been struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete.” GSAM 95.2