• The longest-reigning monarch in France’s history, Louis XIV, earned the sobriquet le Roi Soleil or “the Sun King” because of, surprisingly, his love for ballet. It had nothing to do with the star at the center of our solar system.

• But weirdly enough, during Louis XIV’s reign, the sun began acting a little strangely.

• Sometime around 1645 its behavior changed. Sunspots became exceedingly rare. In some years, no sunspots were detected at all. The sun’s energy dipped.

• This period, known as the Maunder Minimum, occurred within a “Little Ice Age” and coincided with a particularly cold spell in the North Atlantic around 1650.

Tagged: Space