09/30/2026
Between April 5 and 15, 1815, Mount Tambora, a stratovolcano on the northern coast of Sumbawa Island in Indonesia, erupted with extraordinary force, sending ash, pumice, and sulfur dioxide high into the atmosphere. The eruption was the largest in recorded history. An estimated 11,000 people perished in the immediate aftermath, while more than 100,000 others ultimately died from food shortages caused by crop failures and flooding across North America, Western Europe, and Asia.
The following year became known as the “Year Without a Summer.” Global temperatures fell by an average of approximately 1°F, with temperatures dropping as much as 5.4°F in North America and Western Europe. The resulting cold, darkness, and unrelenting rain had far-reaching consequences and an unexpected influence on literature.
Among those affected were 18-year-old Mary Goodwin (later Mary Shelley), Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and Byron’s personal physician, John Polidori. Trapped indoors at their villa on Lake Geneva during the dreary summer of 1816, Byron challenged his companions to create a dark and chilling tale inspired by the extraordinary weather.
Mary Shelley’s response to that challenge, a result of a haunting dream that followed, became her seminal novel, Frankenstein, first published anonymously in 1818.
The eruption of Mount Tambora and its profound global aftermath have received far less attention than warranted. In his highly regarded study, Tambora, Professor Gillen D’Arcy Wood brings this extraordinary event into focus, tracing its effects across continents, cultures, economies, and history.
We hope you’ll join us for a fascinating and eerily timely virtual discussion on Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m., as we meet Professor D’Arcy Wood and explore the catastrophic eruption that helped give rise to one of literature’s most enduring works.
https://ctlandmarks.org/event/tambora-the-eruption-that-changed-the-world/
Photo used courtesy Global Volcanism Program, 2026. Tambora (264040) in Volcanoes of the World (v. 5.4.0; 7 Aug 2026). Distributed by Smithsonian Institution, compiled by Venzke, E.
When Indonesia’s Mount Tambora erupted in 1815, it unleashed the most destructive wave of extreme weather the world has witnessed in thousands of years. Step back in time with Professor Gillen D’Arcy Wood for a virtual presentation about “the year without a summer” that inspired Mary Shelley...
