Mayflower sails from Plymouth, England.

(OS-9/6) Under the command of Capt. Christopher Jones, the ship is leased by the Plymouth Company. Its passengers include 41 men, their wives, and some 30 children who come to be called Pilgrims, and some 60 “adventurers,” mostly from Nottinghamshire, who are part of the expedition at the insistence of the investors in the company. Although bound for Virginia, the ship is forced by strong winds and currents to land at Cape Cod in November 1620,* then at today’s Plymouth in December 1620.*