Because the Year Without a Summer (1816) was a tough year to grow crops, the oats used to feed horses were in short supply and were very expensive. The high price of oats may have been one of the factors that prompted Karl Drais to invent a mode of transportation that did not require a horse. His invention: the bicycle. Unlike bicycles today, Drais' version did not have peddles. Illustration from French patent

Odd things happened during the summer of 1816. Snow fell in New England during midsummer. Gloomy cold rains were continual in Europe. The weather didn’t seem like summer weather at all. It was cold and stormy and dark. Consequently, 1816 became known in the Northern Hemisphere as “The Year Without a Summer.”

The reason for the lack of summer weather in Europe and North America could be found on the other side of the planet - at Indonesia’s Mount Tambora.

On April 5, 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano, started to rumble with activity. Over the following four months the volcano exploded - the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history. Many people close to the volcano lost their lives in the event. Mount Tambora ejected so much ash and aerosols into the atmosphere that the sky darkened and the Sun was blocked from view. These particles spread through the atmosphere over the following months and had a worldwide effect on climate. Earth’s average global temperature dropped three degrees Celsius. The effect was temporary. Eventually, ash and aerosols released by the volcano fell out of the atmosphere, allowing the sunshine through.

The year without a summer had many impacts in Europe and North America. Frost killed many crops. The lack of sunshine caused others to fail. This increased the price of food. The price of oats increased making it more expensive for people to feed their horses. Horses were the main method of transportation, so with expensive oats, the cost of travel increased. This may have been one of the factors that inspired a German man named Karl Drais to invent a way to get around without a horse: the bicycle.

The gloomy summer weather also inspired writers. During that summer-less summer, Mary Shelley, her husband poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and poet Lord Byron were on vacation at Lake Geneva. While trapped indoors for days by constant rain and gloomy skies, the writers described the bleak, dark environment of the time in their own ways. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, a horror novel set in an often stormy environment. Lord Byron wrote the poem Darkness, which begins, “I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish’d.”

Because the Year Without a Summer (1816) was a tough year to grow crops, the oats used to feed horses were in short supply and were very expensive. The high price of oats may have inspired Karl Drais to invent a mode of transportation that did not require a horse. His invention: the bicycle. Unlike bicycles today, Drais' version did not have peddles. Illustration from French patent

Odd things happened during the summer of 1816. Snow fell in New England. Clouds and gloomy cold rains covered Europe. The weather didn’t seem like summer weather at all. It was cold and stormy and dark. The year became known as “The Year Without a Summer.”

The reason for the lack of summer weather in Europe and North America could be found on the other side of the planet - at Indonesia’s Mount Tambora.

On April 5, 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano, started to rumble with activity. Then, it erupted for four months, the largest eruption in recorded history. Many people close to the volcano lost their lives. Mount Tambora ejected so much ash and aerosols into the atmosphere that the sky darkened and people could not see the Sun. These particles spread through the atmosphere over the following months and had a worldwide effect on climate. Earth’s average global temperature dropped three degrees Celsius. The effect was temporary. Eventually, ash and aerosols released by the volcano fell out of the atmosphere, allowing the sunshine through.

The change in climate during the year without a summer had many impacts in Europe and North America. The cold weather and lack of sunshine made it difficult to grow crops, increasing the price of food. The price of oats increased making it more expensive for people to feed their horses. Since horses were the way people got from one place to another, expensive oats meant that the cost of travel increased. This may have helped inspire a German man named Karl Drais to invent a way to get around without a horse: the bicycle.

The gloomy summer weather also inspired writers. During that summer-less summer, three British writers were on vacation in Switzerland. Trapped indoors by constant rain and gloomy skies, the writers described the bleak, dark environment of the time in their own ways. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, a horror novel set in an often stormy environment. Lord Byron wrote the poem Darkness, which begins, “I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish’d.”

Because of the wild weather in 1816, it was hard to grow the oats that horses needed to eat. Oats were very expensive. Karl Drais wanted to invent a way to get from place to place without a horse. He invented the bicycle. Unlike bicycles today, the first bicycle did not have peddles. Illustration from French patent

Strange things happened during the summer of 1816. Snow fell in New England. Clouds and cold rains covered Europe. The weather didn’t seem like summer weather at all. The year became known as “The Year Without a Summer.”

Why was there cold and gloomy summer weather in Europe and North America? The cause was on the other side of the planet - at Indonesia’s Mount Tambora.

In April 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano, started erupting and it didn’t stop for four months. So much ash and aerosols were sent into the atmosphere by the volcano that the sky darkened and people could not see the Sun. Over the next few months, these particles spread through the atmosphere and caused climate to cool. The cooling did not last very long. The particles fell out of the atmosphere, allowing the sunshine through.

The cold weather and little sunshine made it hard for farmers to grow crops. That made food more expensive. It was more expensive for people to feed their horses oats too. Since horses were the way people got from one place to another, expensive oats meant that the cost of travel increased. A German inventor named Karl Drais decided there should be a way to get around without a horse. He invented the bicycle.

The gloomy summer weather inspired writers to write about gloomy things. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, a horror novel that takes place in an often stormy environment. Lord Byron wrote a poem called Darknessduring that summer.