Halley’s poisonous cyanogen was detectable but harmlessly dilute, while the 1910 tail crossing created a market for pills, leather inhalers and impossible insurance.
On the night of May 18 to 19, 1910, Earth moved through the tail of Halleys Comet. For months, parts of the press had prepared readers for something more dramatic than an astronomical encounter. A po… [+7554 chars]