| 3 | 1739 | - 1739: War of Jenkins Ear
Spanish pirates boarded and plundered the British ship Rebecca off Jamaica. Adding insult to injury, they cut off the ear of Rebecca's captain, Robert Jenkins. Back home in England, Jenkins got little sympathy until some years later when some British officials became concerned about growing strength of the Spanish in the Caribbbean. In 1739 they asked Jenkins to describe the atrocity to a committee of the House of Commons and his display of the severed ear raised patriotic spirit to the point that war was declared against Spain
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