Une idée a traversé la sagesse grecque pendant des siècles. Elle vient d’un des Sept Sages fondateurs de la philosophie, Anacharsis semble-t-il. Elle fait des gens qui sont en mer une catégorie entre les vivants et les morts, livrée au hasard du vent et des vagues. Appareiller, c’est jouer sa vie et disparaître du monde dès que le bateau passe l’horizon. Plus encore que les marins antiques, ceux de l’ère des découvertes ont vécu cet exil. Ils ont accompli de longs périple

Grønland (1756) The Danish 50-gun Grønland , launched five years ago at Nyholm island near Copenhagen, departs for a scientific expedition in the Mediterranean sea. She got used to navigating these dangerous waters for she protected Danish trade ships against Barbary pirates lately. This expedition is named the Arabia mission. It has been mounted under the auspices of King Frederick V, who has wisely achieved not to get involved in the global war which begun five years ago

Aurore After having tackled the building of a marine watch in 1756, Pierre Le Roy, 50 years old, has reached a new step last year. It is said that the chronometer he presented to the Académie Royale des Sciences is as precise and reliable as famous Harrison's H4 made in 1759. ¤ Le Roy already invented the detent pivot escapement, or detached escapement, that he presented the Académie in 1748, the temperature-compensated balance by using bi-metallic components, and lately th

James Cook James Cook, the famous explorer, 44 years old by now, departs for his second voyage around the world with a copy of famous Watchmaker John Harrison’s H4, that is the watch K1, and three other time-keepers made last year. ¤ Harrison's H4 was the prototype which achieved to meet the accuracy requirement set by the Board of Longitude when crossing the Atlantic ocean. It completed it twice, in 1761 and 1763 - results met with some initial scepticism by the Board of L

Sumner's Manual Captain Thomas Hubbard Sumner publishes a New and Accurate Method of Finding a Ship’s Position at Sea . This is the fruit...

Captain Thomas Hubbard Sumner, 30 years old, commanding the sailing ship Cabot , travelling from Charleston, Virginia, to Greenock,...

Harrison's Chronometer H1 John Harrison, 46 years old, trials his first marine chronometer H1, built last year, on a round trip between London and Lisbon. A total failure on the way outward - it lost time -, the way back brings an encouraging success in the form of a precise landing against a 60-mile error in longitude for the traditional method of navigation by dead reckoning and by position shift through sun observation. This unexpected half-success rouses the Board of Lon

John Hadley John Hadley, a mathematician aged 49, presents a new instrument of navigation, the octant, also known as the reflecting quadrant, at the Royal Society. A member of the Royal Society, he is already and rightly famous as the inventor of the parabolic reflecting telescope which he presented ten years ago. Three other person at least are working on an instrument of the same sort these days : (1) Thomas Godfrey, 27, a glazier, likely ahead of the group by one or two y

Edmund Halley Edmund Halley, the famous astronomer whom we already acknowledged in previous chronicles, now aged 45, publishes the General Chart of the Variation of the Compass. This chart is based on his observations that he made aboard the Paramour – a weird name for a science-purpose warship. Halley was given command of this 90-ton 6-gun pink in 1698-1700 for the purpose of a hydrographic exploration of the Atlantic ocean to determine the variation of Magnetic North agains

Pierre Arnoul A distinguished naval administrator, Pierre Arnoul, aged 28, is held responsible for a shipwreck so ousted from his...

Joachim d’Alencé, an astronomer, publishes the first release of an annual ephemeris, the ‘ Connoissance des Temps' . He has worked on...

Tobias Mayer Tobias Mayer, a German astronomer aged 29, publishes Tabulæ motuum Solis et Lunæ novæ et correctæ, that are tables of the...

SS Sirius Two steamships (or SS in short), Sirius and Great Western , simultaneously cross the Atlantic Ocean from Cork in Ireland for...

Line Ticket The Wright, Thompson, Marshall & Thompson Line, founded last year, has opened the first regular service between New York and...

Isaac Newton The Longitude Act is passed by the Parliament ‘ for providing a Publick Reward for such Person or Persons as shall...

On the 22nd of October, three ships of the line, the 90-gun Association , the 70-gun Eagle , and the 50-gun Romney run aground on the Western reefs of Scilly islands. They founder with all hands but one. The fireship Firebrand also goes ashore and sinks with half her crew. The 90-gun St George and the fireship Phoenix strike on the reefs too but manage to get off. On her own, the 100-gun Royal Anne escapes the rocks within a hair. A thousand and three hundreds sail

On the 11th of May, thirteen French warships run aground on the reefs of an isolated small archipelago in the West Indies. This is the final act of the Franco-Dutch war which has seen, after the series of setbacks suffered in the North sea in 1672-74, a number of naval victories of the French against the Dutch in the Mediterranean sea, then in Africa at Gorée island, and then in the Caribbean sea. The campaign in the West Indies has been successful so far and Admiral Jean II