Eclipses have captivated human imagination for centuries, inspiring both fear and wonder as ancient cultures sought to explain the mysterious celestial event. Mark Littman, a journalism professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and coauthor of 'Totality: The Great North American Eclipse of 2024,' finds the mythology and folklore surrounding eclipses to be truly intriguing.
Ancient records of eclipses date back to as early as 772 BC, with the Chinese marking them on animal bones, and 750 BC, when Babylonians recorded eclipses in cuneiform writing on clay tablets. These early civilizations recognized a pattern in eclipses, allowing them to predict future occurrences.
