1714
Longitude Act
Parliament, still haunted by the Scilly wrecks, offered twenty thousand pounds to anyone who could determine longitude at sea within half a degree. Astronomers scoffed at the prize going to a mere clockmaker. A Yorkshire carpenter's son, John Harrison, set aside his church-tower clocks and began to build timepieces for the ocean.
George I of Hanover Takes the British Throne
Queen Anne died; her fifty-eight closest Catholic relations were skipped over in favor of a plump Lutheran elector who spoke no English. George arrived from Hanover with two mistresses nicknamed the Maypole and the Elephant. A dynasty that never quite learned the language would rule for one hundred and eighty-four years.
Treaty of Rastatt Ends the War of Spanish Succession
France and Austria signed the last piece of the Utrecht settlement in a Baden palace. Spain's empire was carved: Philip V kept the throne but lost the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, and Sardinia to the Habsburgs. The era of Louis XIV's wars was finally, exhaustedly, over. Europe drew breath. Britain emerged with Gibraltar, Minorca, and the asiento slave-trade contract that would enrich Liverpool for decades.
Fahrenheit Perfects His Thermometer
Daniel Fahrenheit, a Danzig-born instrument-maker working in Amsterdam, developed a mercury thermometer of unprecedented precision, calibrating it against brine, ice water, and human blood. His scale, with its oddly specific zero, would become the English-speaking world's way of measuring the weather for centuries to come. Celsius would propose a rival scale three decades later, and the two have coexisted uneasily ever since.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1714?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1714. The most significant is Longitude Act: Parliament, still haunted by the Scilly wrecks, offered twenty thousand pounds to anyone who could determine longitude at sea within half a degree.
What era was 1714 part of?
1714 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1714?
The curated events from 1714 span Europe.