In 1910, Haitians were extremely scared of Halley’s Comet. Unusually, Earth would be passing through the comet’s 24-million-mile-long tail for six hours on May 19. Fearing that cyanide gas from the tail of the comet would poison the atmosphere, Port-au-Prince residents rushed, according to reports, “pell-mell to the hut of a shrewd old voodoo doctor.”
He was “selling comet pills as fast as he [could] make them.” For just $1 (or about $25 today) the pill was “guaranteed to stave off all malevolent effects of Mr. Halley’s visitor.” His customers were all satisfied, since none died due to Halley’s Comet.
