Before we witness S.C. history.

Between the year-long build up that has consumed our news feeds + trying to hit up as many as possible of the 120 official events happening Aug. 21, we’re all in for the Total Solar Eclipse. 🌗 But what about eclipses from many moons ago?

Here’s a timeline of eclipse history (that may help put the •eclipse information overload• in your brain into perspective), with help from Historic Columbia, UofSC + Total Eclipse Weekend. ⬇️

15th century + before | Eclipses were studied + recorded by ancient Babylonians, Chinese, and Mayans, and were depicted in early printed works

1600s | Early astronomical instruments were created + documented ⬇️ (which led to modern telescopes)

Image via Irvin Department's Robert B. Ariail Collection of Historical Astronomy

1800s + 1900s | Photographers worked to capture the Sun’s corona during total solar eclipses

1831 | Here’s a map of eclipse paths across the U.S. from Feb. 12, 1831 + Nov. 30, 1834 ⬇️

Image courtesy of South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

1860 | South Carolinian Oscar Montgomery Lieber (son of Francis Lieber – a.k.a. the namesake of the UofSC admissions building) traveled to Labrador, Newfoundland on an “Eclipse Expedition” + recorded his findings – but they were never published

May 28, 1900 | The last time the path of totality touched S.C….

🌖 edge of the path skirted Cola, creating a brief, dusky haze

🌗 UofSC made the day a holiday (and published it in the Garnet and Black annual calendar)

🌘 some folks were not impressed – i.e. Fairfield County farmer who journaled: “We all saw the total eclipse of the Sun this AM…” “I plowed some corn and watermelons this A.M.” (But were they Bradford watermelons?)

🌑 The State only mentioned the total eclipse once in the eclipse day’s issue – the day after, almost every page was about the eclipse ⬇️ (They’ve made up for it this time around.)

Image courtesy of NewsBank and Richland Library

1918 | The last total eclipse crossed the U.S. – but on the East coast, it only crossed Orlando, FL

1936 | I.C. Gardener designed a special camera to photograph the eclipse in Siberia, Russia ⬇️

1970 | The last total solar eclipse visible from S.C. (seen only over the coastal region)

Feb. 1979 | The last total solar eclipse to pass over a portion of the continental U.S. (visible only from five states in the Northwest)

Aug. 21, 2017 | The first total solar eclipse to make a path all the way across the U.S. in 99 years will take place (yep, Monday 😎)

2078 | The next time a total solar eclipse will be visible in Columbia (no lie, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience)

Since we can officially count the number of days ‘til Eclipse Day on one hand (4️⃣❗), y’all better have your plans set (...but if you don’t already have tickets to one of the events, we hear Bone-In Barbeque will cater your backyard shindig last minute).

Looking to introduce the awesomeness of Cola to out-of-town guests? Historic Columbia is holding walking tours of Main Street + The Vista Saturday + Sunday (9 + 10 a.m.), and Columbia Food Tours will lead guests through a culinary tour of downtown Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

Our team of three will spend the day boating on Lake Murray, kayaking the Congaree + digging into some paella at City Roots. Make sure to follow along on our Instagram story on Monday to keep up with the out-of-this-world live action.

Want the chance to be featured in Tuesday’s email? Use #COLAtoday on your Eclipse Day posts – just don’t point your phone/camera lense directly at the sun, please.

–Beth