The October 10, 1912 solar eclipse expeditions and the first attempt to measure light bending by the Sun

Abstract

In 1911, Einstein proposed that light bending by the Sun’s gravitational field could be measured during a total solar eclipse. The first opportunity in which this measurement would be tried was during the total solar eclipse of October 10, 1912. We report about the expeditions sent to Brazil to observe this eclipse, including the one from the Córdoba Observatory, from Argentina, which aimed to measure this Einstein’s effect.