1919: The British astronomer Arthur Eddington takes advantage of a total solar eclipse, observed from the island of Príncipe (Africa) and Sobral (Brazil), to test the General Theory of Relativity. By measuring the positions of stars in the Hyades cluster passing close to the solar disc, he observed that their light was deflected by the Sun's mass, exactly as Einstein had predicted. This iconic first observational verification of the curvature of space-time propelled Einstein to global celebrity and revolutionised our conception of gravitation.