Every clear night the sky was illuminated by the most beautiful displays of aurora it has ever been my fortune to witness; they always commenced in the northeast and northwest, and seemed to spring from a dark low bank of clouds. The lights were never stationary for a single second, neither did they ever take the form of bows or arches so often seen in other latitudes, but great curtains of light flashing with all the prismatic colors seemed to be drawn across the heavens, ever rising and changing and often culminating in a corona at the zenith, falling like a shower of meteoric lire. As the winter advanced these displays were more brilliant, and were always of a character that defies description, either by pen or pencil, as they were never for two seconds alike.

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John Archibald Wheeler (Wikipedia) John Archibald Wheeler (July 9, 1911 – April 13, 2008) was an American theoretical physicist. He was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr to explain the basic principles of nuclear fission. Together with Gregory Breit, Wheeler developed the concept of the Breit–Wheeler process. He is best known for popularizing the term “black hole” for objects with gravitational collapse already predicted during the early 20th century, for inventing the terms “quantum foam”, “neutron moderator”, “wormhole” and “it from bit”, and for hypothesizing the “one-electron universe”. Stephen Hawking called Wheeler the “hero of the black hole story”.

Report of the International polar expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, in response to the resolution of the [U.S.] House of representatives of December 11, 1884 (archive.org) The Secretary of War has the honor to transmit to the House of Representatives the report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, together with the letter of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, of this date, submitting the report to this Department, the same being furnished in response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 11, 1884, as follows : “Resolved, That the Secretary of War be requested to transmit to the House of Representatives, if not inconsistent with the public service, the report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, by Lieut. P. H. Ray, U. S. Army, for the years 1881, 1882, and 1883.” ROBERT T. LINCOLN, Secretary of War.