Timeline
Contents
1693
March March: James Bradley born (p194)
1697?
Macclesfield born (p194)
1706
Ben Franklin born
1728
May
01 May(OS): Charles Mason baptised
1729
Bradley discovers aberration of starlight
1732
George Washington born
October
06 Oct(OS): Nevil Maskelyne born
1733
July
27 July(OS): Jeremiah Dixon born (p221) to Mary Hunter (pp229, 238)
no-date: Mason learns baking (p204)
1742
Halley dies, Bradley named Royal Astronomer
1743
Thomas Jefferson born
1744
Bradley marries Susannah Peach (pp143, 187)
1745
Bradley's daughter born
Wolfe expels Mason form paradise (p313)
12yo Dixon meets Lud in tunnel (p232)
1750
Ben Franklin proposes kite-flying experiment
1752-1764
Macclesfield president of Royal Society (p192)
1752
September
02 Sept(OS) Followed by 14 Sept(NS): Eleven days dropped from calendar to make the switch to Gregorian(p190)
1755
(p330)
no-date: Mason Bradley's protege (p45)
1756
Mason becomes Bradley's assistant/adjunct (p45)
"Defenestration of the Clothiers" (p198)
June
Black Hole of Calcutta (p192)
1757
Susannah Bradley dies (p187)
no-year: 01 May: Mason meets Rebekah (p167)
no-year: 21 June: Mason and Rebekah visit Stonehenge (p210)
1758
Halley's Comet reappears (p192)
1759
February
13 Feb: Rebekah Mason dies (p52)
March
Halley's perihelion (p188)
15 March: Johnson on sailors (p35)
November 20 Nov: Battle of Quiberon Bay (p192)
1760
tensions between Mason and Bradley (p188)
May
05 May: Lord Ferrers hung (p109)
September
26 Sept? Dixon writes Mason from Durham (p13)
October<br. late Oct: Quakers expel Dixon; Dixon to London (p43)
December<br. 08 Dec: Seahorse voyage cancelled (p33)
1761
Maskelyne to St Helena (p118)
Bradley suffers emotional problems
January
09 Jan: Seahorse starts for Sumatra (p29)
April
27 April: M&D reach Cape Town
June
06 June: Transit of Venus (p97)
27 June? Waddington leaves St Helena (p127)
October
Oct: M&D to St Helena (pp99, 102)
06 Oct: Maskelyne's 29th birthday (p118)<br.
Oct? Dixon back to Cape Town (p125)
December Dec? Dixon to St Helena (p180) M&D to England
1762
1762? invention of sandwich
July
13 July: Bradley dies (p184)
1763
summer: Mason and Maskelyne in London (p213)
August
Aug: M&D sign contract (p246)
November
15 Nov: M&D reach Philadelphia (p258)
December
01 Dec: second meeting (p291)
1764
1764: Maskelyne to Barbados (p213)
1764-1765: (pp333, 339, 341)
January
08 Jan: observatory (p330)
1766
M&D top Allegheny Ridge (p7)
1767
M&D diverge? (p315)
November
Nov: line halted by Indians
1768
June
21 Jun: M&D complete measurement of degree of meridian
September
11 Sept? M&D leave America
November
24 Nov: M&D address Royal Society
1769
June
03 June: Transit of Venus viewed by Mason at Cavan (Ireland), by Dixon at Hammerfest, Norway (p246)
July<br.
30 July: Dixon back in England
1771
JW LeSpark marries Elizabeth Cherrycoke (p410)
1779
Junuary
22 Jan: Dixon dies
1786
October
25 Oct: Mason dies; Wicks attends funeral (p6)
December
1786: Christmas: "M&D" opens (p6)