A volcano on the other side of the world froze crops and inspired Frankenstein

In April 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted in the most powerful blast in recorded history, throwing enough ash into the atmosphere to lower global temperatures the following year. 1816 became the 'Year Without a Summer': snow fell in June across New England and Europe, harvests failed, and a group of writers trapped indoors by the freak weather in Switzerland included Mary Shelley, who began writing Frankenstein that same wet summer.

— Gillen D'Arcy Wood, Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World — 2014
Go deeper: get the book →