[meteorite-list] Statistically Speaking
From: Bernd V. Pauli <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:36:54 +0000 Message-ID: <DIIE.0000007400002FDC_at_10.0.100.101> Hello All, -.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- Sky & Telescope, December 1985, p. 553: Killer Meteorite On page 222 of the March issue you state, "No one in recorded history has been killed by a falling meteorite." However, Camille Flammarion in his Astronomie Populaire reports a few casualties, and among these we can confirm one case in our own city. In 1973 V. de Michele of the Natural History Museum of Milan found a fairly complete 1664 description of an event that took place between 1633 and 1664. There is some controversy about the exact date, as it was not reported in the original description written by P.M. Terzago, a physician living in Milan at the time. Not far from the center of the city a Franciscan friar was struck on the thigh by a stone from the sky and died abruptly. The meteorite was found in contact with his thighbone and had probably severed the femoral artery. Terzago's description led de Michele to think that the celestial bullet, which appears to have been a lens-shaped chondrite, was about 4 by 5 centimeters in size. The small but diabolical meteorite was lost in the middle of the 18th century, but a description and a colored drawing are in the Ambrosian library of Milan. Marco Cavagna and Massimo Vicentini Civico Planetario Hoepli Corso Venezia, 57 20121 Milan, Italy -.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- Best wishes, Bernd P.S.: Interesting to re-read my posts from 10 years ago ;-) Received on Sun 20 Nov 2011 03:36:54 PM PST |
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