People in Paris watching the solar eclipse of April 17th, 1912 photogrpahed by Eug癡ne Atget. A total solar eclipse occurred on April 17, 1912. It is a hybrid event, starting and ending as an annular eclipse, with only a small portion of totality. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible over a region thousands of miles wide. Totality was visible over the sea between Spain and France, with annularity continued northeast across Europe and Asia. This eclipse occurred two days after the RMS Titanic sank in the northwestern Atlantic ocean under the darkness of new moon.