Seeing how today there was (and possibly still going on at the time of writing) a solar eclipse in the United States of America, I thought I'd share some history as to how I experience it in my country, Romania.
It was the last solar eclipse of the last millenium, it occured on August 11th, 1999. I was just a wee little boy back then, so as awesome as I find a solar eclipse to be now, you can imagine my excitement was much higher when I was just 9 years old. Back then, my country was still in quite a large turmoil after overthrowing communism just ten years earlier, so niche items were very scarce, including viewing glasses for such a momentous occasion. But that didn't stop me! So that morning, me and my that got to work on burning some glass in order to darken it. We were very careful in order not to break it. So when the time came, we raised that glass, and a glass of beer as well to celebrate. I know some might think I was too young, but don't worry, it was just half a pint or so, I didn't get drunk :)
The event was very appreciated in my country at the time, so much so, that in order to celebrate this, our government even minted some special edition money. Here is a picture with a note worth 2000 lei, now it would be replaced with 0.2RON and is worth about 5$ cents, probably a bit less at the time.
Our country was one of the first country to issue plastic money in order to combat fraud and lower the costs of printing and rate of degradation, this way new money was printed less often. This particular note featured a map of the country with the trajectory where the eclipse was best visible marked on it. And here is a coin worth 500 lei at the time, or 0.05 RON or about 1$ cent.
The money you see featured here was only printed for about a year, making it a cool item for collectors. Unfortunately, I think I lost mine a few years ago, but still remember the even fondly, especially since the next total eclipse visible from my country is only due in 2081, by which time I'll most likely be dead, unless bionics become so mainstream or something.
What about you? Did you ever see an eclips? Or the one that took place today? If so what do you think? Do you find it as cool as I do? Share your thoughts and feedback below, it is greatly appreciated!
Thank you for reading, and keep on steemin'!
(clicking on any image will take you to its source)