* Astronomy

Nathaniel "Nat" Turner (October 2, 1800 - November 11, 1831) was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 56 white deaths and over 55 black deaths, the largest number of fatalities to occur in one uprising prior to the American Civil War in the southern United States.
On February 11, 1831, an annular solar eclipse was seen in Virginia. Turner saw this as a black man's hand reaching over the sun, and he took this vision as his sign. The rebellion was initially planned for July 4, Independence Day, but was postponed for more deliberation between him and his followers, and illness. On August 13, there was another solar eclipse, in which the sun appeared bluish-green (possibly from debris deposited in the atmosphere by an eruption of Mount Saint Helens). Turner took this occasion as the final signal, and a week later, on August 21, he began the rebellion.
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