I remember watching a total solar eclipse occurred in Siberia, Russia, on March 9th, 1997. There were no cell phones with cameras and Twitter at that point in time. The thing that impressed me significantly was the silence which came together with darkness...
The beginning of spring, or equinox, March 20th 2015 was different - there was not so dark but quite noisy at the viewing venue in one of the buildings of Manchester Metropolitan University. Stargazers had at least smartphones to take images of the celestial bodies, many used professional cameras equipped with good lenses. The crowd of students and scientists were buzzing when the Moon appeared as a visible black circle contrasted with the Sun. The cloudy weather, such typical for Manchester, didn’t scupper everyone’s plans, and a broken sky gave an exclusive opportunity to get a glimpse on the spectacular phenomena. For safety reasons, visitors were asked not to use regular glasses and to look directly at the Sun/Moon configurations. Using binoculars or a camera was an even worse idea, as the lenses focus the light further. Thus, the watchers were provided antisolar glasses that reflect more than 99% of incident light.