In 1910, in preparation of Halley’s Comet passing Earth, people feared the end of times and entrepreneurs got creative. You could gain protection from “The Evil Eye in the Sky” and its chem trails by purchasing a special gas mask. Try this Haitian voodoo medicine branded as “An Elixir for Escaping the Wrath of the Heavens.” A couple of enterprising capitalists in Texas were arrested for marketing sugar pills as a comet cure-all, only to be released by police when a mob of faithful customers demanded their freedom.
On May 19, 1910, when Halley’s Comet crossed the sky, people quarantined in their sealed homes, packed churches, or watched from rooftops and were convinced they could smell burning. A California man nailed himself to a cross. Life went on. The comet would return for a viewing in 1986, and, if you’re looking forward to another doomsday, will return again in 2061.
