Indonesian volcano helped beat Napoleon

The Duke of Wellington was aided at the Battle of Waterloo by a volcanic eruption in Indonesia, a study by Imperial College London has found.

Mount Tambora erupted two months before the battle in 1815. In the study, published in the journal Geology, Dr Matthew Genge, of Imperial, suggests that changes to the atmosphere brought on by the eruption led to heavy cloud and rain across Europe, which in turn prevented Napoleon from making a quick attack before Wellington’s forces had formed up.