...the South Sea Bubble: 1714 Gabriel Fahrenheit makes the first mercury thermometer 1715 Louis XIV dies "An undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is." Company prospectus of the South Sea Bubble 1721 Sir Robert Walpole becomes First or 'Prime' Minister...

...balls. Another invited the public to invest — with returns of over 100 percent every year — in "a company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is." Within a day people had snatched up almost one thousand shares — whereupon the scheme's inventor...

...this investment boom had now become came from a shady entrepreneur who decided to sell shares in 'a company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is'. The prospectus guaranteed an annual return of £100 for every £2 share purchased. You may have thought...

...Other companies suddenly appeared, offering shares in various overseas enterprises, some as vague as "a company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is." The directors of the South Sea Company realized the stock was dramatically overvalued and began selling;...

...more criticism - or amusement - than an enterprise promoted at about the time of the South Sea Bubble 'for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is' . It is number 17 on the list of 'Bubble-Companies' declared illegal by order of the Lords Justices...

...criticism — or amusement — than an enterprise promoted at about the time of the South Sea Bubble 'Jor carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is' . It is number 17 on the list of 'Bubble-Companies' declared illegal by order of the Lords Justices...

...continued selling shares for absurd enterprises. One such offering advertised its business as follows: "For carrying on an undertaking of great advantage; but nobody to know what it is."3 In the midsummer of 1720, Newton foretold a coming stock market crash, and he sold his shares...

...into the investment. One company that went public in 1720 advertised itself as one "for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is." And still people invested! In early August 1720, the magic £1000-per-share mark was hit, and there...

...companies or bubbles that were, in fact, satirical. The most infamous of those faux proposals, including "A company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is," were not bona fide attempts to bilk investors of money but rather jokes. (Such companies, by the way, exist...

...the hope that the new stock could be resold quickly at a profit. One company with the objective of "carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is", sold 1000 shares to raise £2000 in five hours. The bubble then burst when the promoter disappeared...