On May 28 , 585 BCE , a solar eclipse ended a six - class war .
The Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus live in the seaside townspeople of Miletus . He hypothesized thatwater was the source of all matter , and according toseveral accounts , he bode the solar eclipse of May 28 , 585 BCE . It ’s unclear whether he really called it — or how he understood eclipses to wreak , especially given that he thought the Earth was a flat saucer floating in water . But allot to composition by Herodotus and the philosopher Xenophanes , Thales predicted a full solar occultation .
In 585 BCE , King Alyattes of Lydia was at war with King Cyaxares of Media . They had been fightingfor six yearswith neither side prepare significant onward motion . Their warfare was particularly acerbic because a group of hunters working for the Medes had obliterate one of Cyaxares ’s Son and service him up as a repast ( yikes ) . This fight was personal .
On May 28 , during a battle along the Halys River , the eclipse arrived . Herodotuswrote an accounting of this battleinThe Histories , reporting that Thales had predict the occultation :
The war U. S. Army saw the occultation as an omen indicating that they should halt fighting . They dropped their arm , called a cease-fire , and at last sealed the peace with a regal wedding between Alyattes ’s daughter and a living son of Cyaxares .
Writer Isaac Asimov believed that the occultation of Thaleswas the first scientific experiment . Assuming we conceive Herodotus , Thales hypothesized that an eclipse would happen on a given date and test that hypothesis by observance . Whether it chance that way , we will likely never know — but it make for a great story .
Because modern uranologist can pinpoint the date and location of that solar eclipse , the Battle of Halys is one of the oldest diachronic events with a exact date attached . Whether Thalespredictedthe eclipse or not , it did occur — and it stopped a war .
