Columbus told them that God would make the Moon disappear if they weren't more hospitable. Right on cue, the Moon disappeared and the natives promptly provided more supplies.5. Northern England, 29 June 1927The last total solar eclipse visible from mainland UK. It was total in the north of England but lasted less than 25 seconds. Up to three million people are reported to have travelled to see it, making for the biggest movement of people by train on record in the UK.6. Bergamo, Italy, 5 May 840A writer who saw the total solar eclipse in Bergamo records that people expected the world to end: "There was great distress, and while the people beheld it, many thought that this age would last no longer." The same eclipse supposedly made a king die of fright.
Louis of Bavaria had linked his father's death to an eclipse, and when he saw one happen himself, he predicted his own death - sure enough, he died one month later.7. Cornwall, 11 August 1999The last total solar eclipse of this millennium will be visible from the southwest of England. Cornwall is battening down the hatches in anticipation of the arrival of anything up to four million eclipse fanatics. They might be disappointed - Nasa scientists predict that the chances of clear skies on the day are 45 per cent.8. Jajai, India, 24 October 1995This recent solar eclipse proved that astronomical superstition is far from dead. People living in the village of Jajai smeared pregnant women and cows with red sand, hoping to avert any birth defects which they believed could be linked to an eclipse.9.
Jedburgh, Scotland, 15 May 1836English astronomer Francis Baily discovered what are now known as Baily's beads. Just as the Sun reappears from behind the Moon after a total eclipse, sunlight shines between the lunar mountains, breaking the light up into small shining "beads".10. Sobral, Brazil, and Principe Island, West Africa, 29 May 1919The eclipse that sealed Albert Einstein's fame. Scientists went to Brazil and Africa to test his general theory of relativity - which predicts that the gravity of the Sun should bend the light from stars which are near to it - as viewed from the Earth. Normally these stars would not be visible because of the Sun's brightness, but in an eclipse they are, and the gravitational effect of the Sun on the stars can be observed Einstein passed with flying colours.. In 1990, the building around Concert Square was a derelict warehouse in a run-down area of Liverpool It was about to be turned into a car park. Built around 1910 for a pharmaceuticals company, by the Fifties and Sixties the building was owned by confectionery wholesalers, supplying corner shops with Kit-Kats and Mars bars.
In the Seventies and Eighties the building had become a wholesale outlet for beer, before shutting down and falling into disrepair. Property developers Urban Splash rescued the building from demolition with a vision of how to transform it. Jonathan Falkingham and Tom Bloxham, the two directors, thought they would enjoy loft living in the city centre, and that other people would too. Estate agents told them there would be no demand, but Urban Splash sold all the apartments before renovation work had even begun. Lower floors were rented out to bars, galleries and restaurants. Concert Square Building, redesigned by Shed architects, was completed in 1995.
It has transformed the area from a place that was out of bounds at night, to the most exciting and lively part of Liverpool - the equivalent of Temple Bar in Dublin or Soho in London.Who's in your house?If you are a group of people who live, or work, separately but within the same building and would like to be featured on this page, write to Who's in the House?, The Independent Magazine, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL, giving a contact phone number, your address, and details of the type of building you occupy. Please also include recent photographs (which you do not want returned) of your homes or offices.107.6 Crash FM radio stationOpened: March 1998Charlie C, DJ for 'Charlie's Jam', on Sunday nightsCrash FM chose to locate in the centre of Liverpool, five minutes down the road from the superclub Cream. It has an alternative music policy, covering house, garage, soul, funk and indie, with not too many big chart hits. The station has a large, open-plan office and broadcasts live from two studios Charlie C has been with Crash from the beginning. He plays R&B, hip hop and swing and, he believes that, "Liverpool is the music capital of the world."Beluga barOpened: November 1995Julie and Mary StephensonWhen sisters Julie and Mary Stephenson took on the basement of Concert Square it was filled with water and had no gas or electricity.