In 1739, Britain declared war on Spain. The spark for the war was highly unusual, what was it?

Answer: Britain went to war over a sailor’s ear. A Spanish officer had supposedly sliced off the ear of a ship’s captain, Robert Jenkins, of the coast of Florida. The war became known as the ‘War of Jenkins Ear’. The severed ear itself was even exhibited in the British Parliament.

Source: Hidden History of St. Augustine by Drew Sappington

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