Meteorite falls of 1794
One meteorite in the catalogue is recorded as a witnessed fall in 1794: Siena, in Italy.
Why 1794 matters
On 16 June 1794 a shower of stones fell near Siena in Tuscany. It came in the same year that Ernst Chladni published his argument that meteorites come from beyond Earth, and the two together began to change scientific opinion.
What fell in 1794
| Meteorite | Country | Class | Mass recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siena | Italy | LL5 | 3.7 kg |
A witnessed fall is a meteorite seen or heard coming down and then picked up, as opposed to a find, which is discovered later with no record of its arrival. The mass is the total recovered, often from many pieces.