Several Eskimos, driven south by ice, paddled as far as Scotland. The Thames River at London froze frequently in the 1600s. By 1700, Iceland was surrounded with sea ice that made commerce with the rest of the world hazardous. And in faraway China, citrus groves that had survived for centuries froze in Jiangxi province. The Little Ice Age lasted anywhere from 400 to 700 years.
Exact dates are uncertain.
There were no thermometers during much of this period. Some suggest it didn't end until around 1900. In a historic cosmic sense, what with entire galaxies colliding, stars exploding and planets getting pummeled by huge rocks, the event was a sneeze. In fact, researchers believe, it could be the reason the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates rivers became so popular, since the ancients found their water supply and all the greenery around them disappear over a course of a few centuries. Ice formed every month of the year.