Historical challenge prizes

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1. British Longitude Prize

Year: 1714
Promoter: British Government
Prize amount: £20,000 (Today's value $2,087,000)
Winner: John Harrison

The Longitude Prize was one of the first challenge prizes. It sought the development of a reliable solution to help British sea men to be able navigate at sea.

The prize was created because of the number of voyages ending in tragedy due to the difficulty at the time of determining longitude.

The Board offered several financial encouragements and awards, the largest sums going to the most successful competitor, John Harrison, an English watcher maker who created the marine chronometer.

*image courtesy of National Maritime Museum, Greenwich London.