I received this email the other day...

I read a Wikipedia article on King Mongkut of Siam...
"Mongkut was always interested in Astronomy. In 1868, he invited Sir Harry Ord, the British Governor of Straits Settlements from Singapore, as well as a party of French astronomers and scientists, to watch the total solar eclipse of 18 August, which King Mongkut himself had calculated two years earlier, at (in his own words) "East Greenwich longitude 99 degrees 42' and latitude North 11 degrees 39'."

I could watch the eclipse by plugging in the coordinates and the date in MyStars!. It must have occurred almost directly overhead around noon. I AM impressed.

Dr. Bhagwan K. Murthy
Associate Professor
Dept. of Electrical Eng
National Institute of Technology
Warangal India