On Sept. 6, 1492, Christopher Columbus' fleet left Gomera, the Canary Islands, for their long Atlantic sail to the Bahama chain of islands. On Sept. 6, 1522, only one of Ferdinand Magellan's original five ships returned to Spain, thereby completing the first circumnavigation of the globe. Magellan, a Portuguese navigator employed by Spain, had set out from Seville three years earlier with 265 men, but only 18 survived. Magellan himself was killed en route, in the Philippines. On Sept. 28, 1542, Captain Juan Cabrillo was the first European to discover land on the California Coast, in what is now San Diego harbor. They even named a beach after him. Sept. 16, 1620, The Pilgrims set sail from Plymouth, England, to America, on the Mayflower. Sept. 6, 1622, a large Spanish fleet sank off the Florida Keys in a hurricane; thousands died. Sept. 6, 1628 (375 years ago), the first Puritans landed at Salem, Mass., forming the New England Company, under John Endecott, governor. In 1629, the name was changed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to avoid conflicts with the Council of New England. 200 years ago, on Aug. 31, 1803, Captain Meriwether Lewis, 29, left Pittsburgh to sail down the Ohio River to join Captain William Clark, 33, in Louisville to prepare a team in St. Louis over the next winter, for exploration of the new Louisiana Purchase territories the following year. 150 years ago, Sept. 24, 1853, American entrepreneur Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt sailed to Europe by private yacht. Through his shrewd dealings in shipping and railroads, he made enough money to take the first vacation of his life, at age 59. He built a steam yacht, the North Star, sumptuously appointed. With his entire family, even sons-in-law and grandchildren, and invited guests, he embarked for Europe. 100 years ago, Sept. 3, 1903, the American yacht Reliance defeated Britain's Shamrock III in the America's Cup. Reliance held the cup the longest (17 years) of any ship and was the largest single-mast vessel ever built, over 201 feet from bowsprit to boom, with a topmast 199'6" above the water line. She sailed with a crew of 64 and had 17,730 square feet of sail area. The spinnaker pole alone was 83'9". She sailed at over 17 knots on her maiden voyage, faster than the steam-powered yachts that sailed out to watch her. In fact, she was so successful, that size limits were put on later American Cup boats, delaying the next race for 17 years, in 1920.
