For most of history, humankind has been absolutely terrified of eclipses.

The Vikings, the Mayans, the ancient Chinese, they all trembled in fear, and understandably so.

Imagine the sun being blotted from the sky with no warning.

I would be terrified too. Many cultures had taboos surrounding eclipses. In some cases

pregnant women had to stay indoors and people often banged on pots or drums to scare away the mythological wolf or snake or dragon that they imagined was devouring the sun.

Some people even shot flaming arrows into the sky to re-ignite the sun. Moreover, natural

disasters like earthquakes have long been linked to eclipses, as have untimely deaths. Famous historical deaths that have been

linked to eclipses include Charlemagne, King Henry I of England, the Prophet Muhammad's son Ibrahim, and Jesus of Nazareth as the

land was cast into darkness during his crucifixion.

Nowadays we're likely to dismiss the link between eclipses and death as

superstition or the thinking of pre-scientific minds. There's no way watching an

eclipse could kill someone, right?

Well, not so fast.

I've written before about how the element helium was discovered during an eclipse in August 1868. But among

astronomy buffs that eclipse is known as the King of Siam eclipse. That's because

it led to the death of the King of Siam. His name was Rama the

fourth and he's best known from the musical The King and I. But if the

eclipse killed Rama the fourth, it also had another bigger effect on

Siam overall. The king may have perished, but his deep love for astronomy ended up saving the kingdom itself from destruction.

From the Science History Institute, this is Sam Keene and the Disappearing Spoon, a topsy-Turvy

sciency history podcast, where footnotes Become The Real Story.

Ram of the Fourth was born in Siam, modern day Thailand, in 1804. The young prince was groomed for the throne from an early age and by

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