The Year Without a Summer (1816)

And the ensuing famine

(Public domain)

The year 1816 is known as the Year Without A Summer. The atmosphere was blasted with millions of pounds of ash and dust thanks to a massive volcanic eruption in present-day Indonesia (Dutch East Indies). The skies became cloudy, and temperatures plummeted. The cold weather combined with shrouded sunlight caused crops to falter and fail from China to France.