July 25

1603 – James VI of Scotland is crowned king of England (James I of England), bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. A personal union is the combination of two or more countries that have the same leader while their borders, laws, and interests remain distinct. Political union wouldn’t occur...

EYES TO THE SKY

At the height of summer, a blue-white sapphire-of-a-star appears near the top of the sky in the east at dusk, soon followed by a pale citrine point of starlight below. By 9:15 p.m. a third, dimmer star completes one of the season’s great celestial patterns, the Summer Triangle. The stars, Vega, Altair and Deneb, are...

RiverWatch

Thursday, July 21 Sea Princess Outbound 5:00 pm; Panama Canal/South Pacific/Australia Saturday, July 23 Anthem of the Seas Inbound 6:30 am (Bayonne); outbound 4:00 pm; Bermuda Norwegian Gem Inbound 7:15 am; outbound 3:30 pm; Florida/Bahamas Sunday, July 24 Celebrity Summit Inbound 6:30 am (Bayonne); outbound 4:00 pm; Bermuda Norwegian Breakaway Inbound 7:15 am; outbound 4:30...

Rowing The Atlantic

Today got better and better after I wrote. Our progress has been quite amazing with a current that I saw curving E this morning establishing itself in E to SE direction at 1,5 k or more! So yesterday’s suggestion of 170 (nearly S) was not far off. We did more than 40 nm in 12...
Dr. Stein Hoff photo by Stanley Fine

July 22

1706 – The Acts of Union 1707 are agreed upon by commissioners from the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which, when passed by each countries’ Parliaments, led to the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain. 1793 – Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first European to complete a transcontinental...