What are some of the most influential or beautiful natural events in history we only know of from writings (supernova, volcanoes, etc.)?

1. I can't remember where I read this, but there was some astronomical event, either a supernova or an eclipse, that took place in the middle of a battle and led to peace between the sides, because they viewed it as a sign from the gods. Edit: It was the Eclipse of Thales
   — ThadeusOfNazereth


2. Astronomer here! You've got supernova stories already, but one I always found fascinating was there is a possible record of some monks observing a crater forming on the moon from an impact. [In 1178,](https://www.google.nl/amp/io9.gizmodo.com/why-did-a-group-of-medieval-monks-see-part-of-the-moon-1694716988/amp), five monks in the evening saw the moon suddenly get sparks and saw a burning torch form near the upper horn. There is even a suggested crater on the moon as the one they saw form! We will never know for sure, but I always thought that sounded quite intriguing...
   — Andromeda321


3. 1815's Year Without a Summer. It was caused by Mount Tambora eruption in Indonesia. It caused global weather effects as far away as New England. If it wasn't for this eruption, Mormonism might have never come to exist. According to Wikipedia: Vermont alone experienced a decrease in population of between 10,000 and 15,000, erasing seven previous years of population growth.[6] Among those who left Vermont were the family of Joseph Smith, who moved from Norwich, Vermont (though he was born in Sharon, Vermont) to Palmyra, New York.[30] This move precipitated the series of events that culminated in the publication of the Book of Mormon and the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[19] Who would have thought that a volcanic eruption in Indonesia could have possibly triggered events to lead to the birth of a major religion?
   — nomoretears50






4. [The Orphan Tsunami of 1700.](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/rosetta-stones/thunderbird-and-the-orphan-tsunami-cascadia-1700/) A well-recorded yet puzzling tsunami struck Japan in 1700. Puzzling, because no tremors were felt in Japan beforehand, and despite efforts to determine where and when it originated, no matching quake could be found. It was referred to as the Orphan Tsunami for almost 300 years. Across the ocean in the Pacific Northwest, native oral histories recorded a battle between Thunderbird and Whale. The ground shook, and a massive flood wiped out villages along the coast. These histories were specific, widespread and consistent enough to narrow down the timeframe for this event to the early 1700s. Around the 1980s, researchers started paying serious attention to the Cascadia Subduction Zone just off the PNW coast. They started to realize Cascadia is capable of creating truly monstrous quakes and tsunamis, and then how much the histories of the Thunderbird vs. Whale event seemed to describe a major earthquake and tsunami, possibly sparked by Cascadia. Further research such as tree ring dating and seafloor analysis started to confirm the oral histories, and pointed to a megathrust earthquake of about magnitude 9, originating in the Cascadia between late 1699 and early 1700. The pieces started falling together. The connection between Japan's Orphan Tsunami and North America's earthquake and tsunami was realized when the Cascadia Subduction Zone was found to be the only possible origin for the Japanese event.
   — MrsMURICA


5. Cant remember precise details but there was a short period in human history during which a 'nearby' star went into supernova creating the effect of 2 suns for a while.
   — TheGoodConsumer


6. The 1490 Ch'ing-yang event, believed to be a meteor shower or air burst in Qìngyáng. At least three surviving Chinese historical records describe a shower during which "stones fell like rain", and claim it killed more than 10,000 people. However, the official Ming Dynasty history omits the number of casualties. Due to the lack physical evidence researchers have been unable to definitively identify the nature of the event or the number of causalities.
   — Stlieutenantprincess






7. giant octopodes in the Atlantic, very rarely ships would come into ports with giant markings of an octopus and the sailors claiming they were attacked by a giant octopus, none were ever found except for some random tentacles that washed up on Canadian shores, often deemed to be a hoax, the accounts were very rare and there still have been no actual recordings, the last documented sighting was a science vessel looking for proof for those claims making the exact claims with the same proof for it, but no recordings of it
   — RQK1996


8. The eruption of the Krakatoa in 1883 one of, if not the biggest eruption witnessed by men. Also the Tunguska event. A meteorite crashing in Siberia with an explosion so important you could read a newspaper in London (during the night).
   — SwissmenVS


9. [1755 Lisbon earthquake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake) It did not only shake the land, but the ideas and beliefs of many philosophers and intellectuals of the time. It also led to the birth of seismology.
   — Raskolnikoolaid