There are three types of spurious solar eclipses (and they actually constitute our very favorite eclipses):

1. The assimilated eclipse.  A chronicler shifts the date of an eclipse by a year or more to relate it to some other event, whether consciously or unconsciously.
2. The literary eclipse.  A work of fiction features an eclipse that is later taken for a real eclipse by an over-eager reader.
3. The magical eclipse.  A solar eclipse or other celestial sign dramatizes an important battle, the death of a great personage, or the beginning of a wonderful enterprise.

—The Sun Recorded Through History