The night sky on the night of the Rumble in the Jungle — 30 October 1974

In the early hours of 30 October 1974, in front of some 60,000 people in Kinshasa, Muhammad Ali knocked out the undefeated heavyweight champion George Foreman in the eighth round. The fight started around 4 a.m. local time so it could be shown live in the United States. Ali's 'rope-a-dope' tactics won back the title he had been stripped of seven years earlier.

The sky over Stade du 20 Mai, Kinshasa, Zaire (DR Congo)

This is the real sky above Stade du 20 Mai, Kinshasa, Zaire (DR Congo) (4.33°S, 15.30°E) on 30 October 1974 at 04:00 WAT (UTC+1) — about when the fight began (1974-10-30 03:00 UTC). The Sun was 24° below the horizon: it was full night. The Moon (waxing gibbous, 99% lit) was 12° up in the west. Planets above the horizon: Saturn (61° in the north-east). Brightest named stars up: Sirius, Canopus, Capella, Rigel and Procyon.

Star map of the sky over Stade du 20 Mai, Kinshasa, Zaire (DR Congo) on 30 October 1974 at 04:00 SaturnMoon SiriusCanopusCapellaRigelProcyonAchernarBetelgeuseAldebaran NSEW
824 stars brighter than magnitude 5 above the horizon, with the constellation figures. Look up: north at the top, east on the left.

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