Excerpt:
Eclipses of the Sun and Moon have always left a deep impression on their viewers. The loss of the Sun, the bringer of life for ancient people, was considered a bad omen. Many ancient people—including those in the Caribbean and the islands of the Pacific— believed that during an eclipse a monster or dragon was eating the Sun. The time of an eclipse was one of prayers, sacrifices, and noise as they attempted to make the dragon drop its prey—and the dragon always did!
Annotation:
This is timeline of the effect eclipses have had on certain groups of people in various times and places. The information is anecdotal and not especially useful except possibly to give an interesting example of how people's attitudes toward nature have changed with the growth of science.