War Started by a Pickled Ear (Bizarre) The incredible true story of the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1748), which began when British Captain Robert Jenkins presented his severed ear to Parliament as evidence of Spanish brutality. Spanish guards had cut off his ear in 1731, but politicians used it as propaganda seven years later to justify war over Caribbean trade. This bizarre 9-year conflict cost thousands of lives and merged into a larger European war - all because of one pickled ear. #WarOfJenki