Dark days, cold nights..long ago

Krakatau (Krakatoa) explodes

  On August 27, 1883 the volcano Krakatau in what is now Indonesia erupted.  A German warship traveling by estimated that ash, smoke and pieces of lava raised 7 miles into the sky.  The explosion was heard 3000 miles away and 36,000 people perished in the aftermath tsunamis and fires.
  The eruption lasted two months and winds carried the ash around the world, a lot of the world was cloaked in semi-darkness.
  Here is Maine 1884 was known as the year without a summer.  Killing frosts occurred in each of the twelve months and snow fell in every month except July and August.  The hay crop was meager and no other crops grew.  It was tough on what was then an agricultural state.  The woodsmen kept working, but few ships sailed.

Anak Krakatau is small, see arrow and click to enlarge.  www.wikipedia.org