![]() December 1, 1852From the diary of Benjamin Vicuna Mackenna, "We crossed the equator, twenty two days out of Valaparaiso…I escaped the Baptism of Neptune the sailors had planned for me. It was not because they respected me as an employeer--the laws of the sea are inexorable about that; it was the captain had bought them off with the promise of a double wine ration at Easter." (From, We were 49ers! : Chilean accounts of the California Gold Rush / translated and edited by Edwin A. Beilharz and Carlos U. Lopez. - Pasadena, Calif. : Ward Ritchie Press, c1976)![]() December 6, 1940Mrs. Alma Spreckels establishes the Museum of Science and Industry as a non-profit vehicle for the collection known as the "Marine Exhibit." This exhibit eventually became the intial collection of the Museum of Science and Industry, a collection which, in 1951 and 1952, became the basis of what is now the SFMNHP object collection.![]() (NPS photo) December 13, 1577Sir Francis Drake sails from Plymouth, England with a squadron of five ships to circumnavigate the globe.![]() NPS photo December 23, 1893Union Iron Works launches the two-masted pilot schooner Gracie S. with all the fashion and ceremony of a modern cruiser. Built to replace the George Peabody, the Gracie S. cost $17,000 and is considered the best of the pilot schooner fleet. She is named for the eldest daughter of John D. Spreckels.![]() December 25, 1969The Eppleton Hall begins her voyage from England to San Francisco to begin her career as a museum ship. |
Last updated: September 28, 2017