5 September 25

Tomorrow (6 September) marks the 533rd anniversary of the day Christopher Columbus sailed from the Canary Islands, his last port before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It also marks the 503rd anniversary of the return of one of Magellan's ships to Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth, and the 405th anniversary of the sailing of the Pilgrim's "Mayflower" from Plymouth, England. A few great events in sailing history!

1 November 22

Prime Meridian Day (1 November) celebrates the international conference in October 1884 that adopted the meridian through Greenwich, England as the foundation for global navigation -- zero degrees longitude. It is closely associated with Greenwich Mean Time, because mariners in the 1800s measured their longitude by calculating the difference between their local solar time and clocks calibrated for Greenwich time. The prime meridian is no longer defined by a physical line painted in the courtyard of the observatory at Greenwich but is "a statistical solution resulting from observations of all time-determination stations which the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) takes into account when co-ordinating the world's time signals." My navigational tie features old-fashioned physical compasses.

6 April 22

Today I'm celebrating the first recorded human visit to the earth's North Pole, by American explorer Robert Peary, in 1909. Others made similar claims, but in 1911 the U. S. Congress declared Peary to be the winner in this "race." I think it's very interesting/amusing to imagine being at the one point on the earth where the only direction you can move is southward; up-and-down and right-and-left are meaningful, but "east" and "west" are meaningless. My tie is covered with compasses, and I found a way to stick a real working compass at the center!

20 September 21

Today marks 502 years since Ferdinand Magellan began his voyage to circumnavigate the Earth. He died en route but his crew completed the journey in 1522. My tie from Mystic Seaport features compass navigation, and my CASA pin (for Court Appointed Special Advocates) helps celebrate National Care for Kids Day (a brand new holiday). Our son Ben is the Community Engagement Manager for CASA of Lexington, KY.

14 May 20

On this date in 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their exploration of the "Louisiana Purchase." My tie features several compass designs. The Smithsonian Institution has one of the pocket compasses that Lewis purchased for their navigation.

16 September 19

On this date in 1620, 102 passengers set sail from England on the Mayflower, headed to the British colonies in North America. They intended to sail to Virginia, but weather conditions and navigational errors pushed them northward. On 21 November they landed at what they called Plymouth Rock in what became Massachusetts. My compass navigation tie (from Mystic Seaport, Connecticut) honors the science of finding directions!

5 February 19

It's National Weatherperson's Day! Today marks the birthday in 1744 of John Jeffries, who began recording daily weather observations in Boston in 1774. My tie celebrates various instruments to measure time, location and direction, and my shirt's fine stripes resemble the isobars on weather maps!

1 November 17

It's Prime Meridian Day! On this date in 1884, representatives of 25 nations met in Washington, D. C., to adopt the convention that the meridian through London, England would be designated as the (only) Prime Meridian, longitude = zero degrees. (The final vote was 22-1, with two abstentions.) Without that standard, global navigation, timekeeping and communication would be far more complicated.

5 February 17

It's National Weatherperson's Day! Today marks the birthday in 1744 of John Jeffries, who began recording daily weather observations in Boston in 1774. My tie celebrates various instruments to measure time, location and direction, and I'm wearing a shirt whose narrow stripes remind me of the isobars and isotherms on weather maps.

6 April 16

The first recorded visit by humans to the North Pole happened on 6 April 1909. The exact location reached by Robert Peary and 5 others has been disputed but their compass and time measurements were as accurate as possible for that time.

3 August 15

On this date in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed across the ocean blue. You don't have to like his politics or his treatment of people in the "new world" to appreciate the spirit of exploration that drove him to try what other people thought was ludicrous and destined for failure. My nautical tie celebrates compass navigation, which was one of Columbus' tools, along with the quadrant, sextant and astrolabe.

5 February 15

Today is National Weatherperson's Day! Celebrate with your favorite meteorologist/weather fanatic. My tie celebrates navigation and measurements.

7 September 14

Special notes in world exploration: yesterday (6 September) marked the 522nd anniversary of Columbus' leaving the Canary Islands (last port before sailing across the Atlantic) and the 492nd anniversary of the arrival of the first of Magellan's ships (circumnavigating the globe). Note that in 3014 we (?) will celebrate the 1522nd anniversary of Columbus' 1492 voyage and the 1492nd anniversary of Magellan's 1522 circumnavigation.

9 October 13

Happy Leif Erikson Day! Yes, there is a celebration designated for the Norse explorer who "discovered" America about 500 years earlier than Christopher Columbus, and so it is fitting that his "day" on the calendar precedes Columbus Day. The date actually honors the arrival in New York of a Norwegian immigration ship in 1825.

5 February 13

Happy National Weatherperson's Day! Today marks the birthday in 1744 of John Jeffries, who began recording daily weather observations in Boston in 1774. My tie celebrates various instruments to measure time, location and direction.

6 September 12

On this date in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from the Canary Islands, his last port before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Thirty years later (1522), one of Ferdinand Magellan's ships returned to Spain, marking the first circumnavigation.

06 April 11

Wouldn't it be fun to be where the only direction you can go is south? The first recorded visit to the North Pole by humans occurred on this date in 1909. Robert Peary's travel log reports that he and Matthew Henson reached 90 degrees north latitude on April 6, but later research shows that they may have been "short" by about 30 miles. Another explorer (Frederick Cook) claimed to have visited the pole a year earlier, and after some controversy, Peary's claim to be the first to reach the North Pole was recognized by the U. S. Congress in 1911. (In the photo you can see a small globe near my right elbow.)

17 November 10

This is the middle of Geography Awareness Week. I don't have a global map tie, so my compass navigational tie (from Mystic Seaport, CT) will have to do. I will be sure to celebrate "geography" somehow with my Garmin® GPS receiver. By the way, today is also Electronic Greeting Card Day!

13 October 10

Celebrating Columbus Day today. EKU had its Fall Break on Monday and Tuesday, so this is my first of two work days this week; Friday is a vacation day to get ready for the wedding on Saturday.

3 August 10

Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain on August 3, 1492.