Month: November 2017

EYES TO THE SKY November 27 – December 10, 2017

Our Sun sets in the southwest at around 4:20 in the afternoon. When twilight gathers, golden Capella, the fourth brightest star in northern skies, commands our attention above the northeastern horizon. Capella, from the Latin for ‘she-goat’, is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga The Charioteer. At nightfall four lesser stars appear, shaping a...
Compare the size of Aldebaran with our sun. (wikipedia)

Evacuation Day

Evacuation Day is New York City’s most famous celebration you’ve never heard of. While November 25, 1783, marks a significant moment in American history, Evacuation Day never reached national prominence. And while New York embraced it with great enthusiasm-parades, flotillas, fireworks-for more than seventy years, that’s not surprising since it was New York that was...
General George Washington and Governor George Clinton (symbols of military and civilian authority) pass St. Paul's chapel, which miraculously survived the fire of 1776 that destroyed Trinity Church and many buildings west of Broadway. The general would return to worship here as president six years later.

Taking Down the Ritz

The company that owns the hotel portion of the Ritz-Carlton building in southern Battery Park City has apparently decided to strip the luxury brand name from its hostelry, as part of its ongoing campaign to shut down the lodging facility and convert it to condominium apartments. The 38-story Ritz-Carlton building at the foot of Battery...
The Ritz Carlton in Battery Park City

November 22

845 – 845 : The first King of all Brittany, Nominoe defeats the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon. 1492 – Pinta under Martín Alonso Pinzón separates from Columbus’s fleet 1794 – Strasbourg Alsace-Lorraine, prohibits circumcision and wearing of beards 1809 – Peregrine Williamson of Baltimore patents a steel...

Reflections on the Day

Circa 1975, a elderly piano teacher on Long Island was trying to guide a not-very-talented pupil, on the cusp of adolescence, through the Largo of Dvorak’s New World Symphony. The teacher, who had been a displaced person and refugee during World War Two, had seen and endured unspeakable things before coming to America. Although she...

November 21

1272 – Following Henry III of England’s death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England. 1620 – Pilgrims reach America: Provincetown Harbor 1620 – Mayflower Compact signed by Pilgrims in Cape Cod, (A modern version of the Mayflower Compact.The ‘dread sovereign’ referred to in the document uses the archaic definition of...
Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620 A painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris 1899