Date with History: September 6

The Victoria limps home from the first lap of the globe, and the Mayflower sets sail.

One paperback for one calendar date: what happened on September 6, and who was born on it.

What happened on September 6

1522: The Victoria completes the first voyage around the world

A battered Spanish carrack called the Victoria creaked into Sanlucar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, with eighteen survivors of a crew of roughly 270. Magellan had been killed in the Philippines; his navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano brought the ship home. The crew also returned a day behind Spain's calendar despite careful daily logs, the first practical encounter with what we now call the International Date Line.

1620: The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, England

On September 6, 1620 by the Old Style calendar, the Mayflower left Plymouth carrying 102 passengers, religious separatists who wanted to worship without the English government watching. The crossing took sixty-six miserable days, and many would not survive the first winter. They had no idea they were sailing into a founding national myth, buckled hats and all, which they did not actually wear.

Famous birthdays on September 6

1860 — Jane Addams
Founded Chicago's Hull House and was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

1943 — Roger Waters
Pink Floyd's bassist and the architect of The Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, and The Wall.

Nearby dates

September 5 · September 7 · All September dates

Part of Date with History, a 366-book collection with one book for every date of the year. 5″×8″ paperback, cream paper.

Historical selections are editorially researched. This is a date-specific book, not a personalized or custom-made product.