Chapter 1
Prophecies in ink and orbit
Chapter 2
Synchronized lives and twin destinies
Chapter 3
Surviving the impossible
Chapter 4
The science of the impossible
Ch 1 · Prophecies in ink and orbit
misslily Born as the comet streaked across the sky in 1835, Twain died of a heart attack one day after its April 1910 perihelion.
Quiz
In what year did Mark Twain correctly predict he would pass away alongside the return of Halley's Comet?
Quiz
How many years does it take for Halley's Comet to complete one orbit around the Sun and return to Earth's view?
misslily Starving survivors of the 1884 Mignonette shipwreck ate cabin boy Richard Parker
Quiz
Which famous author wrote the 1838 novel featuring the fictional cabin boy Richard Parker?
Quiz
What was the name of the real-life yacht that sank in 1884, leading to the cannibalism of cabin boy Richard Parker?
Fun Fact
Halley's Comet: It is the only short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, meaning a human can see it twice in a lifetime.
Quiz
In which month did both the fictional Titan and the real Titanic strike their fateful icebergs?
Quiz
What was the name of the fictional ship in Morgan Robertson's 1898 novella that closely mirrored the Titanic?
Glossary
orbit (noun)
The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon. In 1726, Jonathan Swift detailed the orbital periods of Mars's moons, long before astronomers officially discovered them.
The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon. In 1726, Jonathan Swift detailed the orbital periods of Mars's moons, long before astronomers officially discovered them.
Quiz
Who was the first Tsar of the Romanov dynasty, crowned at the Ipatiev Monastery in 1613?
Quiz
In which Russian city was the Ipatiev House, where the Romanov family was executed in 1918, located?