Halley's Comet - Connecting Mark Twain and Davy Crockett

[uk666]

Halley's Comet - Connecting Mark Twain and Davy Crockett

In August of 1835, Halley's comet appeared in the night sky. Showing up every 74 years or so, the comet's fantastic flame had a reputation for causing sensations. This time was no exception. Halley was blamed for a New York City fire which raged for several nights.

But for Davy Crockett, the flame must have represented an exciting new chapter in his life. He had just lost a narrow election for congress in Tennessee. 

He was said to have announced to his constituency, "You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas." Little did he know that his light was about to burn out with Halley's comet at the Alamo, during the Texas Revolution, only a few months later.

Strangely enough as Crockett was on his way out, another luminary figure was being brought into the world. On November 30, 1835, Samuel Clemens was born.

1835 was one of the years Halley’s Comet came through our night sky. In fact, what astronomers call the “perihelion” of Halley's Comet, or the moment when the comet was closest to the sun, happened just two weeks before his birth. 

Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain (1835-1910), is that prolific writer most of us know for - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Despite the novel's unforgettable scenes and social commentary.

Twain's greatest achievement was that he was able to popularize the use of vernacular in fictional books. However, he was not the first person to write in the folksy style that we identify with - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 

Just a year before Mark Twain was born, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, of the State of Tennessee had become a smash hit. 

Before his death at the Alamo, David Crockett, the politician, drafted his autobiography with the intention of clearing up many misconceptions and myths about the Davy Crockett, the famous frontiersman.

Later on, words like "Sockdolager" which were attributed to Crockett showed up in - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain undoubtedly was influenced by Crockett's legacy. And it is remarkably surreal that Crockett left the world while Twain was entering it just as Halley's Comet was passing over the earth. 

During that summer of 1835, little did the world know that a communications revolution was taking place. It had nothing to do with the printing press or even higher literacy rates though. The work of individuals who were not afraid to challenge conventions with their unpretentious words would give social currency to classes of people who were previously disenfranchised.

[BamSec1]

Davy (or David) Crockett, I only read about the adventures of David Crockett, the famous frontiersman.

I never read about the one who died during the Texas Revolution.