This coming May 22, President Obama will proclaim National Maritime Day, in recognition of the American merchant mariners who have contributed so much to the prosperity of the United States. Unfortunately, there very likely will be a problem with the presidentâ??s 2014 proclamation: nowhere in it will he describe why May 22 was selected for National Maritime Day.
The answer is a simple one: on May 22, 1819, the steamship Savannah, under the command of Capt. Moses Rogers, departed on her epochal voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The Savannahâ??s successful crossing proved that artificially-powered vessels were not just a provincial innovation, but the beginning of a global revolution that would change the world forever.
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