George II: “never mind the crash, send me a billion” (Snippets 45)

Originally posted on Windows into History:

Edward Matthew Ward’s interpretation of the “South Sea Bubble”, painted in the style of Hogarth more than a century after the events depicted.

In 1746, William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, became Prime Minister. He held the post for a grand total of two days. Admittedly, this is debatable as strictly speaking there was no official office of Prime Minister at the time, but there is no doubt that he occupies a very unusual place in history.

During the ea...