06 September 09

I wish I had a tie to celebrate this occasion for September 6:

• 1916: The first self-service grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, was opened in Memphis, Tenn., by Clarence Saunders.

But instead my tie recognizes some great moments in global exploration:

• 1492 – Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic for the first time.
• 1522 – The Victoria, one of the surviving ships of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, returns to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the world.
• 1909: American explorer Robert Peary sent word that he had reached the North Pole five months earlier.