Heat Waves That Have Been 06 Jan 1899. “In France, in 1718, many shops had to close. The theatres did not open their doors for three months. Not a drop of water fell during six months. In 1773 the thermometer rose to 118 degrees.” 118deg F = 47.7778 Celsius
“Heat Waves” that Have Been. (1899, January 6). The Sydney Wool and Stock Journal (NSW : 1899 – 1917), p. 13. Retrieved June 25, 2024, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106808443?searchTerm=heat%20waves&searchLimits=#
In 1303 the Rhine, Loire, and Seine ran dry.
It seemed as if New York was was fire in 1853. During the week 214 people were killed in that city of sunstroke.
In France, in 1718, many shops had to close. The theatres did not open their doors for three months. Not a drop of water fell during six months. In 1773 the thermometer rose to 118 degrees.
The heat in several of the French provinces during the summer of 1705 was equal to that of a glass furnace. Meat could he prepared for the table merely by exposing it to the sun. Not a soul dare venture out between noon and 4 p.m.
In 1809 Spain was visited by a sweltering temperature that is described as fearful. Madrid and other cities were deserted and the streets silent. Labourers died in the fields, and the vines were scorched and blasted as if by a simoom.
The year 1772 was a fearful one in New York. One hundred and fifty five cases of sun stroke occurred on July 4th, of which seventy two proved fatal. The principal thoroughfares were like fields of battle. Men fell by the score, and ambulances were in constant requisition.
In 1778 the heat of Bologna was so great that numbers of people were stifled. In July, 1793, the heat again became intolerable. Vegetables were burned up, and fruit dried on the trees. The furniture and woodwork in dwelling houses cracked and split, and meat went bad in an hour.
A disastrous hot wave swept through Europe in June, I851. The thermometer in Hyde Park, London, indicated from 90 to 94 degrees in the shade. In the Champs de Mars, Paris, during a review, soldiers by the score fell victims to sunstroke, and at Aldershot men dropped dead while at drill.
In July, 1876, intense heat began to make its power felt throughout the middle and southern states of America. In Washington the heat was frightful. The car rails became so expanded by the action of the sun as to rise up in curved lines, drawing the bolts. In one instance the rails burst away from the bolts and left the track entirely. In 1881, it is said the heat throughout the United States was the greatest on record, the thermometer in many places registering 105 degrees in the shade. In England the mercury ranged from 90 to 101 degrees, and in Asia 92 degrees.
In London it was the hottest season known in twenty-two years. The director of the Paris Observatory declared there was no record of such intense heat.