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Ensisheim

ENSISHEIM

Chondrite LL6
Fall, November 16, 1492
France, Upper Rhine
One stone weighing 126 kg
Photo shows a 21.5 g polished section

This is the first reliably confirmed and preserved fall in World history. Hundreds of the city of Ensisheim witnessed the fall of a large stone from the air. The fall was accompanied by an awful sound like a thunderstorm, but nobody understood what had happened. The Emperor Maximilian came to the place of the fall and said: "This stone will help us to defeat our enemies".At his order the stone was hung by chains to the walls of the city church so that "it could not fly back up into the sky". Later a sign was placed near the meteorite: "De hoc multi multa, omnes aliquid, nemo salis" - "Many people know a lot about this stone, everyone knows something, but nobody knows enough".

      
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