BUFFALO, N.Y. — As the countdown continues to April 8, when Buffalo falls into the path of totality for the next solar eclipse, January 25 marks the 99th anniversary of the last time a total solar eclipse of the sun occurred here.
It appears Buffalo was just as excited about the eclipse in 1925 according to newspaper clippings provided by Tim Collins, a researcher for the Buffalo Museum of Science and host of The 7th Magnitude, a podcast for astronomers.
Just as we expect will happen in April, newspapers at the time noted that "stargazers were mobilizing in the city" for what they referred to (as one might during the roaring ’20s) the “astral tryst of sun and moon”.
Among the many who came here were scientists who were interested to know what impact the eclipse might have on the then-new medium of radio, and whether the eclipse would interfere with radio waves and transmissions. It was concluded that it did not.
"There were other scientists who came to observe zoo animals and their behavior during the eclipse," said Collins, who noted the army was also present to conduct experiments in airplanes about the potential impact of the eclipse.
Unfortunately, Saturday, January 24, 1925, turned out to be an overcast day in Buffalo...so much so that the headline in the Buffalo Sunday Times proclaimed the observation of the eclipse here to be a failure. "Cloud bank obscures show...Buffalo astronomers attach little scientific value to pictures taken here", the paper reported.
"It didn't work out for Buffalo," said Collins. "It almost worked for Niagara Falls because they did get a peak a little bit of corona midway through. But it wasn't sustainable and didn't stick around."
According to Collins, skies were clear in some sections of the Southern Tier that morning, allowing audiences to get a full view of the eclipse.