On the Uses and Misuses of Eclipses

If an eclipse isnt caused by some giant snake eating the sun, what causes it? Would you believe a wizard from Connecticut?

In Mark Twains A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court (1889) the eponymous Yankee is sent back in time to the days of King Arthur, where hes promptly arrested and condemned to be burned at the stake. The cunning Yankee, though, through the magic of future science, knows that an eclipse is coming, and tells the court that he will blot out the sun, which shall never...