Winter Is Coming: Europe’s Deep Freeze of 1709
In the first months of 1709, Europe froze and stayed that way for months. People ice-skated on the canals of Venice, church bells broke when rung, and travelers could cross the Baltic Sea on horseback. This freakish winter ultimately claimed the lives of a vast number of Europeans and disrupted two major wars—but to this day, there is no conclusive theory for its cause.
This story appears in the January/February 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine.
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