11 August
1999: Up to 350 million people in Europe and Asia witnessed the last total solar eclipse of the 20th century.
The phenomenon began over the Atlantic, a few hundred miles east of Boston, North America. The only part of mainland Britain to witness totality (the full blacking out of the Sun by the Moon) was Cornwall in south-west England.
After Britain the eclipse was seen throughout Europe and Asia. In northern France, there were clear skies as there were in Munich, Germany. But at the moment of totality, a torrential downpour spoiled the view.
The totality could be seen the longest in Ramnicu Valcea, the south-central city in Romania.