Solar eclipse 2024: Newfoundland’s Burgeo part of history [Video]

GANDER –

Residents of a small fishing community along the south coast of Newfoundland prepared on Monday morning to celebrate their unique place in solar eclipse history.

Michael Ward, the town clerk manager for Burgeo, N.L., says British cartographer Capt. James Cook experienced a partial eclipse of the sun in 1766 on a small island just off the community’s coast. Cook was so taken with the experience, he named the isle Eclipse Island, Ward said.

For Monday’s eclipse, events scheduled in the town of about 1,175 people will include the unveiling of a 2.4-metre-high solar-powered beacon on the small island, as well as music, dance and smudging ceremonies led by the Burgeo First Nation, Ward said.

• IN PICTURES: Stunning views of the solar eclipse

“I’ve got 490 pairs of eclipse glasses, and I’m hoping that by the end of the day, I’ve got none,” he said in an interview.

The eclipse’s path of totality will travel from Newfoundland’s southwestern tip …