1728
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British forces raise a 14-month Spanish siege of Gibraltar in March (see 1704; 1779).
A pamphlet entitled "The Sailor's Advocate" by English M. P. James Edward Oglethorpe, 30, criticizes the systematic impressment of men into the Royal Navy and merchant marine service. Educated at Eton and at Oxford's Corpus Christi College, Oglethorpe served in the British Army under Prince Eugene of Savoy against the Ottoman Turks 11 years ago and was present at the siege of Belgrade.
Danish explorer Vitus Bering, 47, rediscovers a narrow strait between Asia and North America; it was first discovered in 1648 by the Russian navigator Semyon Dezhnev but will be called the Bering Strait (see 1741).
The Caracas Company (Compañia Guipuzcoana) chartered by the Spanish crown receives a monopoloy on trade with Venezuela (little Venice) (see exploration, 1567). Named for the Basque province in which it is headquartered, the company introduces cacao, cotton, indigo, and tobacco cultivation into Venezuela, maintaining a private army to protect its venture (see War of Jenkin's Ear, 1739). Other such companies will receive charters, but only the Caracas Company will be financially successful, and it will survive until 1778 (see 1749).
Yorkshire carpenter John Harrison, 35, completes plans for a practical spring-driven marine timekeeper that will advance navigation (see Longitude Act, 1714). Having proceeded on the premise that longitude can be determined by comparing the time at sea with the time ashore if only the seagoing clock that shows Greenwich time can retain its accuracy, he obtains a £200 loan from clockmaker George Graham, 55, who has invented a mercurial pendulum and deadbeat escapement, and begins work to perfect his design and create a working model in an effort to win the prize offered 14 years ago by London's Board of Longitude (see 1736).
English astronomer James Bradley, 35, discovers stellar aberration—a small apparent displacement of fixed stars when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the path of the Earth around the sun. His measurements confirm the late Ole Römer's 1675 estimate of the velocity of light.
Theologian-historian Cotton Mather dies at his native Boston February 13 at age 65.
The University of La Habana is founded in Cuba.
Cyclopaedia, or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences by English encyclopedist Ephraim Chambers, 48, is published in two volumes. Chambers is elected to the Royal Society (see 1844; Britannica, 1768).
Fiction: Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality (Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité) by French novelist Abbé Provost (Antoine François Provost d'Exiles), 31, appears in the first four of seven volumes. The novelist is a former Benedictine monk.
Poetry: The Dunciad by Alexander Pope satirizes dullness; Spring by James Thomson.
Painting: The Skate and The Rain by French painter Jean-(Baptiste-) Siméon Chardin, 28.
Theater: Money Makes the World Go Round (Le Triomphe de Plutus) by Pierre de Marivaux 4/22 at the Théâtre Italien, Paris; The Ungrateful Sons (Les Fils ingrats) by Alexis Piron at the Comédie-Française, Paris; Love in Several Masques by English playwright-novelist Henry Fielding, 21.
Opera: The Beggar's Opera 1/29 at the Lincolns Inn Fields Theatre, London, with music by Berlin-born composer John Christopher Pepusch, 51, book and lyrics by English writer John Gay, 42. Faustina Bordoni and her rival Francesca Cuzzoni are satirized as Polly and Lucy in the opera, which has 62 successive performances but begins a 2-year run; Siroe, Re di Persia 2/28 at London's Haymarket Theatre, with Bordoni creating the role of Emira, music by George Frideric Handel; Tolomeo, Re di Egitto 5/4 at the Haymarket with Bordoni creating the role of Elisa, music by Handel, who is named codirector of the King's Theatre in Covent Garden. The Royal Academy closes prematurely in June when Bordoni falls ill, and the fortunes of Cuzzoni begin to decline (notoriously extravagant and improvident, she will make her final appearance in 1751 and die in obscurity, totally impoverished, at Bologna in 1770). Marie Sallé dances a pas de trois in June with her great rival Marie Camargo and Mlle. Petit in Hypermnestra. She and La Camargo will appear together in numerous performances.
English architect John Wood, 24, designs the North and South Parades at Bath to begin a notable career as city planner. He moved to Bath last year after having helped to build London's Cavendish-Harley housing estate.
French champagne producers win the right to ship their vin gris in bottles (see 1724). The Saint-Gobain glassworks will provide the enormous number of bottles required (see 1735).
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