Expert: Joseph Logue - 4/21/2004

Question
Joseph,can you answer this question for me today? I need it for a daily trivia question.

It was this week in 1066 that a monk spotted what he thought to be an anomoly and decreed that its appearance predicted the end of England! The Battle of Hastings followed shortly thereafter and he was almost right! What did the monk spot in the sky above the British Isles?
Thank you.

Answer
Hi Mike,

I've read numerous times that it was Halley's Comet (I don't feel like doing the math), which is never a good sign for those so inclined to believe in such things.  Monks probably were.  Remember too that King Harold was wounded by an arrow arching through the sky that got him in the eye, and he later died because of it.  Perhaps then he shouldn't have been looking up.

And actually, the Battle of Hastings was in October, not April.  

As always, visit your local library and ask the librarian for help finding the answers you need.

Good luck in the game.

Jos. Logue