From a Wired.com article on the anniversary of the Tunguska event, this made me think:
Here's something to consider: In its 1966 edition, the Guinness Book of Records concluded that, based on the Earth's rotation, had the Tunguska meteorite struck 4 hours, 47 minutes later, it would have obliterated St. Petersburg, then the capital of imperial Russia. Given the events that would shortly torment that nation -- and all of Europe -- for the better part of the 20th century, one is left to wonder how history might have changed in those circumstances.
Great idea for a series of ...?articles...?tv shows....??s
...or an episode of Dr Who where pre-revolutionary forces opposing the Czar, in league with the Cybermen, set out to destroy St Petersburg and are foiled at the last minute... er, last 287 minutes... by the versatile Time Lord!
Were the Romanov's in St. Petersburg at the time?
Were the Romanov's in St. Petersburg at the time?
The ghost of Czar Peter the Great kept the meteoroid at bay.
St Peterburg and the Hermitage are luckily still there.
Were the Romanov's in St. Petersburg at the time?
Who cares? One should never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Were the Romanov's in St. Petersburg at the time?
They usual spent the summer months in nearby Tsarskoe Selo (now called Pushkin). (Another consideration is that the Tunguska Event happened on 17 June 1908 according to the Julian calendar still in use at the time.)
Who was near Tunguska River at the time?
Testimony of Chuchan of Shanyagir tribe, as recorded by I.M.Suslov in 1926.
"We had a hut by the river with my brother Chekaren. We were sleeping. Suddenly we both woke up at the same time. Somebody shoved us. We heard whistling and felt strong wind. Chekaren said, 'Can you hear all those birds flying overhead?' We were both in the hut, couldn't see what was going on outside. Suddenly, I got shoved again, this time so hard I fell into the fire. I got scared. Chekaren got scared too. We started crying out for father, mother, brother, but no one answered. There was noise beyond the hut, we could hear trees falling down. Chekaren and I got out of our sleeping bags and wanted to run out, but then the thunder struck. This was the first thunder. The Earth began to move and rock, wind hit our hut and knocked it over. My body was pushed down by sticks, but my head was in the clear. Then I saw a wonder: trees were falling, the branches were on fire, it became mighty bright, how can I say this, as if there was a second sun, my eyes were hurting, I even closed them. It was like what the Russians call lightning. And immediately there was a loud thunderclap. This was the second thunder. The morning was sunny, there were no clouds, our Sun was shining brightly as usual, and suddenly there came a second one! "Chekaren and I had some difficulty getting out from under the remains of our hut. Then we saw that above, but in a different place, there was another flash, and loud thunder came. This was the third thunder strike. Wind came again, knocked us off our feet, struck against the fallen trees. "We looked at the fallen trees, watched the tree tops get snapped off, watched the fires. Suddenly Chekaren yelled 'Look up' and pointed with his hand. I looked there and saw another flash, and it made another thunder. But the noise was less than before. This was the fourth strike, like normal thunder. "Now I remember well there was also one more thunder strike, but it was small, and somewhere far away, where the Sun goes to sleep."
I dunno. He tosses off the term 'thunder' like it's a normal thing and then says 'what the Russians call lightning.' The Shanyagir had a word for thunder but not for lightning?
Never met a Shanyagir.
Shanyagir These are pages on Shanyagir.
Thunder This specifically about that thunder.
The Shanyagir had a word for thunder but not for lightning?
Who knows? I suppose that Chuchan of the Shanyagir tribe spoke some sort of Tungusic language, but was speaking with I M Suslov in Russian or being translated for him by some bilingual person. Russian does distinguish between lightning (молния molnija, related to the Old Norse word for Thor's hammer mjo̧llnir) and thunder (гром grom). It is interesting that in English bolt of lightning can also be called a thunderbolt (удар молнии udar molnij 'thunder strike, blow').
He always runs where others walk......but about mjollnir,
Mjollnir means "crusher," referring to its pulverizing effect. It is related to words such as the Icelandic verbs mölva ("to crush") and mala ("to grind"), but similar words, all stemming from the Proto-Indo-European root melə can be found in almost all European languages, e.g. the Slavic melvo ("grain to be ground") and molotu ("hammer"), the Dutch meel(wiki(!)
We have a word : 'mollen' which means to crush, destroy, to ruin. That might come from the same origin.