Volcanoes and inventions

Necessity is the mother of invention. On 10 April 1815, the Tambora volcano in Indonesia erupted. It was the most powerful volcanic eruption in the last 10,000 years.

The sunshine was so badly affected that summer was cancelled in the USA and Europe in 1816. Mary Shelley writes her most famous work Frankenstein out of frustration about her rainy trip to Europe in storm-ravaged Switzerland. The unusual atmospheric conditions led to intense colours in the sky. William Turner and Caspar David Friedrich paint one dramatic sunset after another.

Lord Byron, who was staying on Lake Geneva in 1816, wrote the gloomy poem „Darkness“ during the „Year Without a Summer“, which describes a world without sun.

The climatic changes also influenced music. In 1816, Franz Schubert composed songs that were characterised by the gloomy mood of the time, such as „Death and the Maiden“.

But for most people, the effects of the natural disaster were catastrophic: disastrous crop failures. Thousands of animals died because there was no food. With the lack of horses, there was also a lack of means of transport.

But necessity is the mother of invention. Karl Friedrich Drais von Sauerbronn, a master forester from Baden, thought that it was important for people to be able to get around without the help of animals if necessary.

He invented the „draisine“, a „high-speed machine“ made of wood, which was designed to make walking easier and was propelled by the feet. This was a major milestone in the development of the bicycle. I'm not happy that the volcano erupted. But I am very grateful for the bicycle.

With the World changer - Biographies you will find much more inspiration about people who have made a difference in the world.