Natural disaster
A solar flare is a phenomenon where the Sun suddenly releases a great amount of solar radiation, much more than normal. Solar flares are unlikely to cause any direct injury, but can destroy electrical equipment. The potential of solar storms to cause disaster was seen during the 1859 Carrington event, which disrupted the telegraph network, and the March 1989 geomagnetic storm which blacked out Quebec. Some major known solar flares include the X20 event on August 16, 1989, and a similar flare on April 2, 2001. The most powerful flare ever recorded occurred on November 4, 2003 (estimated at between X40 and X45).
Solar eclipse of November 23, 1965
An annular solar eclipse occurred on November 23, 1965. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Annularity was visible from the Soviet Union (today's eastern Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan and southwestern Tajikistan), Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Nepal (including the capital city Kathmandu), southwestern Sikkim (now merged with India), Burma, southwestern tip of Sainyabuli Province in Laos, Cambodia, South Vietnam (now belonging to Vietnam), Spratly Islands, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Territory of Papua New Guinea (today's Papua New Guinea), and Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the part now belonging to Kiribati). 8 of the 14 eight-thousanders—Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manaslu, Shishapangma, Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu, as well as the highest peak of Oceania, Puncak Jaya, lie in the path of annularity.