A Reproduction of the fresco in the Cathedral of Catania, showing the 1669 eruption of Etna

March 11, 1669 - Mt Etna erupts, Italy

After months of increasing seismic activity,
a 9 km-long fissure opens up on the southern flank of Mt. Etna.

During the eruption, Catania residents attempted to divert lava upstream from the flow. It is said that their efforts were met with armed resistance from the citizens of a town which would have been threatened by the diverted flow. Italian law was subsequently passed to forbid the artificial diversion of lava flows. Over 300 years later, this law was repealed in 1983.