Major Anniversaries in 2026

400 years since the death of Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher and statesman who is widely credited with having developed the scientific method

375 years since the end of the English Civil War

375 years since the publication of Leviathan, a book about the structure of Government by English philosopher Thomas Hobbes which was the first to propose a social contract between government and citizens

350 years since the first accurate measurement of the speed of light by Danish astronomer Ole Rømer

325 years since the invention of the seed drill by English farmer Jethro Tull

300 years since the publication of Gulliver's Travels by Irish novelist and cleric Jonathan Swift, one of the earliest and most influential works in the English language

300 years since the birth of Scottish geologist James Hutton who devised the theory of 'uniformitarianism', which explains the development of geographic features by means of natural processes over geological time

250 years since the death of John Harrison, an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer which solved the problem of calculating longitude while at sea

250 years since the publication of The Wealth of Nations by Scottish philosopher Adam Smith, the foundation of the discipline of economics

250 years since the invention of the mechanical air compressor by English instrument maker Jesse Ramsden