980-after 1066

English monk who attempted to fly off the tower of Malmesbury Abbey with a set of wings attached to his arms and feet. It so happened that the great historian William of Malmesbury witnessed the event as a boy, leaving an account of it in his Gesta regum anglorum. Apparently Eilmer panicked after flying some 600 ft (183 m) and suddenly plummeted to earth, breaking both of his legs. In spite of this, he wanted to make a second flight, but the abbot forbade it. According to William, Eilmer also had the distinction of twice seeing the comet known today as Halley's comet. As a nine-year-old boy in 989, Eilmer believed the comet to be a portent of dire happenings, and indeed it was soon followed by a Danish attack in England. The second time Eilmer saw the comet, in 1066, the Normans invaded, bringing an end to the Anglo-Saxon world he had known.