Editing 1738 (section)

=== October&ndash;December ===
* [[October 22]] &ndash; The excavation of [[Herculaneum]], a Roman city buried by [[Vesuvius]] in [[AD 79]], begins near the Italian city of [[Resina]] on orders from King [[Charles III of Spain]] to his engineer, [[Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre]].<ref>Pedar Foss and John J. Dobbins, ''The World of Pompeii'' (Routledge, 2009) p29</ref>
* [[November 18]] &ndash; The [[Treaty of Vienna (1738)|Treaty of Vienna]] is ratified, ending the [[War of the Polish Succession]]. Under the terms of the treaty, [[Stanisław Leszczyński]] receives [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]] in exchange for renouncing the [[Poland|Polish]] throne.
* [[December 27]] &ndash; After setting off from Rotterdam in August with 240 immigrants to America, the British ship [[Palatine Light|''Princess Augusta'']] is wrecked near [[Block Island]] off of the coast of the colony of [[Rhode Island]].<ref>Jill Farinelli, ''The Palatine Wreck: The Legend of the New England Ghost Ship'' (University Press of New England, 2017) pp. 101-105</ref> During the voyage, 200 passengers and seven crew die from illness spread by contaminated water. Another 20 die after the crew leaves and rows to shore. The wreck later becomes the subject of the legend of the "Palatine Light" ghost ship and of [[John Greenleaf Whittier]]'s 1867 poem "The Palatine".