Longitude Act
E785577
The Longitude Act was an 18th-century British law that established substantial financial rewards to encourage the development of accurate methods for determining a ship’s longitude at sea, spurring innovations like marine chronometers.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Longitude Act 1714 | 1 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom
ⓘ
British statute ⓘ |
| administeredBy | Board of Longitude NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
determination of longitude
ⓘ
navigation at sea ⓘ |
| beneficiary | John Harrison NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| country | Kingdom of Great Britain ⓘ |
| createdInstitution | Board of Longitude NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| dateEnacted | 1714-07-08 ⓘ |
| enactedBy | Parliament of Great Britain NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| establishedBody | Board of Longitude NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| field |
maritime navigation
ⓘ
timekeeping ⓘ |
| hasEffectOn |
Royal Navy navigation practices
ⓘ
merchant shipping navigation practices ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | 18th century ⓘ |
| influencedPerson |
John Harrison
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Nevil Maskelyne NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| jurisdiction | Parliament of Great Britain NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| languageOfWork | English ⓘ |
| legalStatus | public act ⓘ |
| locationOfEnactment | London NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| longTitle | An Act for providing a publick Reward for such Person or Persons as shall discover the Longitude at Sea NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| motivatedInnovation |
lunar distance method
ⓘ
marine chronometer ⓘ |
| offeredReward |
£10,000 for finding longitude within 1 degree
ⓘ
£15,000 for finding longitude within 2/3 of a degree ⓘ £20,000 for finding longitude within 1/2 degree ⓘ |
| purpose |
to encourage the development of accurate methods for determining longitude at sea
ⓘ
to improve maritime navigation safety ⓘ to reduce shipwrecks and losses in long‑distance sea voyages ⓘ |
| reasonForEnactment |
difficulty of determining longitude at sea
ⓘ
frequent shipwrecks due to navigational errors ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Age of Sail
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Board of Longitude NERFINISHED ⓘ British maritime expansion ⓘ marine chronometer ⓘ |
| rewardCondition | demonstration of a practical method to determine longitude at sea ⓘ |
| rewardCurrency | pounds sterling ⓘ |
| shortTitle | Longitude Act 1714 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| signedBy | Queen Anne NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| sponsor | government of Queen Anne ⓘ |
| subjectMatter |
longitude
ⓘ
maritime safety ⓘ navigation ⓘ |
| typeOfReward | monetary prize ⓘ |
| verificationMethod | sea trials under supervision of the Board of Longitude ⓘ |
| yearEnacted | 1714 ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Longitude Act 1714