1730
Who invented the Marine Chronometer to win the 1714 Longitude Act Prize of £20,000 (worth £2.75 million in today's money)?
HH
...over 300 years ago, a Yorkshire-born self-taught clockmaker, who suffered ridicule and long delays in payment at the hands of bureaucrats (sounds familiar)!
Was longitude the cause of the 1707 Scilly Isles disaster, and did it prompt the 1714 Longitude Act?
HH
In 1707, a midshipman, born in the area of the Scilly Isles, had the audacity to warn Admiral Shovell that his fleet was off course. Shovell ordered him hanged at the yardarm for inciting mutiny. That night 4 battleships were wrecked and over 1400 sailors lost their lives on the rocks of the Scilly Isles!
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