in Tolbooth Prison, and lynches him. September 29 – The Gin Act 1736 goes into effect, placing a steep tax on the sale of gin and license requirements for its sale, with the intent of reducing consumption of the liquor in Britain. Widely ignored, the Act is repealed in 1743. October–December October 3 – French scientist Charles Marie de La Condamine and a team of surveyors begin the first measurements at the Equator to determine the exact meridian arc measurement of distance between points separated by one degree of longitude in order to make a precise calculation of the Earth's circumference. The initial measurements, made in what is now Ecuador, last until November 3. November 5 – King Theodore of Corsica flees the island after a reign of seven months and the kingdom reverts to French control. November 13 – Word of the discovery of silver, south of what is now the U.S.-Mexican border, reaches Sonora Governor Juan Bautista Anza and soon leads to prospectors coming to Nogales to find more silver. Late in October, a Yaqui Indian prospector, Antonio Siraumea, had discovered large slabs of silver ("Las planchas de plata"), and at the Estancia Arizona, a ranch owned by Captain Bernardo de Urrea. The region, and later the U.S. territory, and state of Arizona are named for Urrea's ranch. December 7 – Benjamin Franklin builds the first volunteer fire company in Philadelphia. December 26 – Andrew Michael Ramsay gives an oration, in which he relates the heritage and internationalism of Freemasonry to that of the Crusades. Date unknown Neustrelitz becomes the capital of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Bushehr is founded in Persia. The Belgrade Fortress is completed. One of the earliest records of use of a bathing machine is made at Scarborough, England. Charles Marie de La Condamine, with François Fresneau Gataudière, makes the first scientific observations of rubber, in Ecuador. Leonhard Euler produces the first published proof of Fermat's "little theorem". Sir Isaac Newton's Method of Fluxions (1671), describing his method of differential calculus, is first published (posthumously) and Thomas Bayes publishes a defense of its logical foundations (anonymously). Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab writes the Kitab at-tawhidt, marking the beginning of Wahhabism. The Haidamakas raid the shtetl of Pavoloch, killing 35. Births January 7 – Andrew Adams, American judge (d. 1797) January 19 – James Watt, Scottish inventor (d. 1819) January 25 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian-born mathematician (d. 1813) February 3