Editing 1736 (section)

=== October–December ===
* [[October 3]] &ndash; 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 (angle)|degree]] of [[longitude]] in order to make a precise calculation of the Earth's circumference. <ref>Oscar Peschel and Gustav Leipoldt, ''Physische Erdkunde: Nach den Hinterlassenen Manuscripten Oscar Peschel's'' (''Physical Geography: According to Oscar Peschel's Surviving Manuscripts'' (Duncker & Humblot, 1879) p. 152</ref>   The initial measurements of this [[French Geodesic Mission to the Equator]], made in what is now [[Ecuador]], last until November 3. The same year the [[French Geodesic Mission to Lapland]] took place. Both confirm Isaac Newton's prediction that the [[Figure of the Earth]] is flattened at the poles.
* [[November 5]] &ndash; King [[Theodore of Corsica]] flees the island after a reign of seven months and the kingdom reverts to Genoese control. <ref name=Corsica/>
* [[November 13]] &ndash; 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, Sonora|Nogales]] to find more silver.  <ref>Carlos R. Herrera, ''Juan Bautista de Anza: The King's Governor in New Mexico'' (University of Oklahoma Press, 2015) p37</ref>  Late in October, a Yaqui Indian prospector, Antonio Siraumea, had discovered [[Planchas de Plata, Sonora|large slabs of silver]] ("Las planchas de plata"), and at the Estancia Arizona, a ranch owned by Captain {{ill|Bernardo de Urrea|es}}.  The region, and later the U.S. territory, and state of [[Arizona]] are named for Urrea's ranch.
* [[December 7]] &ndash; [[Benjamin Franklin]] builds the [[Firefighting in the United States|first volunteer fire company]] in [[Philadelphia]].
* [[December 26]] &ndash; [[Andrew Michael Ramsay]] gives an oration, in which he relates the heritage and internationalism of [[Freemasonry]] to that of the [[Crusades]].