1816: The Year Without a Summer

"We have had the most extraordinary year of drought and cold ever known in the history of America." - Thomas Jefferson, September 8, 1816

On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted with a force among the most powerful in recorded history, reducing the mountain by 4,200 feet. What followed was a year unlike any other in modern times, as volcanic ash and gases released into the atmosphere caused dramatic climate changes in Western Europe, Canada, and New England. The year after, 1816, became known as "the year without a summer," as snow fell in June and rivers turned to glass under a pale July sky.

The climate upheaval brought with it hardship and uncertainty. In Europe, crops failed leading to food shortages and soaring prices. Communities faced hunger and disease, with the crisis exacerbating the spread of illnesses such as typhus. While North America did not experience widespread famine, the cold and failed harvests forced many families in New England to abandon their homes. The search for better prospects led to a wave of migration westward, with Ohio and the Midwest becoming havens for those seeking fertile land.

The chaos, however, did stir up the old mantra of necessity as the mother of innovation. In Germany, when horses became too expensive to keep, Karl Drais turned his mind to other ways of getting around, inventing the "Laufmaschine" or running machine. This contraption would become the precursor to the bicycle.

Meanwhile, the gloomy summer forced a young European writer named Mary Shelley indoors, where the eerie atmosphere and candlelit nights helped inspire her to write Frankenstein.

By 1817, the skies had cleared, and weather patterns finally returned to normal.

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Sources:

• Skeen, C. Edward. “‘The Year without a Summer’: A Historical View.” Journal of the Early Republic, vol. 1, no. 1, 1981, pp. 51–67. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3122774. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

• The Year Without a Summer? World Climate in 1816. United States, Canadian Museum of Nature, 1992.

• Weeks, John R. “THE YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER, 1816, AND THE WARM WINTER OF 1815-1816.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, vol. 5, no. 10, 1924, pp. 140–41. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26261111. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.