A Monstrous Volcanic Eruption Gave Life To Frankenstein's Monster

On this day in 1818, the novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus", by 21-year-old author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, was published. Frankenstein is often considered the world's first science fiction novel, as it mixes elements of Victorian ghost stories with elements of modern technology, chemistry and biology. She describes the weather at the time as a "wet, unpleasant summer, continuous rainfall kept us inside the house." Bored, the friends worked on creepy stories, reflecting the gloomy atmosphere surrounding them, but only Shelley completed hers. The year 1816 is today famous as the year without a summer.