Youngest sailor completes solo journey around the world, and more

Youngest sailor completes solo journey around the world

Zac Sunderland has become the youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate the globe alone. Only 16½ when he set forth from Marina del Rey, Calif., in June 2008 aboard a 36-foot sloop, he returned last week after 13 months to become the first person ever to complete the solo journey before his 18th birthday. “I think society puts young people in a box—people 15, 16, 17—and does not expect them to do much but go to high school and play football and stuff like that,” Sunderland said. “This just shows they can do a lot more with some strong ambition and desire.”

Solar eclipse sweeps across Asia

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The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting 6 minutes and 39 seconds at its maximum point, swept across vast swaths of Asia this week. Beginning in India, the eclipse proceeded to darken portions of Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, and Japan. The event drew millions of observers, many imbuing it with spiritual significance. “It’s something so great that humans should experience it,” said Mahamorowi Omar, an amateur astronomer who brought a tour group from Malaysia to China for a better view. “After this, we will go and pray to God together.” The next solar eclipse of this duration will be in the year 2132.

Baby survives 20-foot drop

Dawn Longhurst left her 20-month-old son, Callum, unattended in the second-story living room of her home in Brighton, U.K., for only a few moments. But when she returned from the kitchen he was gone, and to her horror, she realized he had climbed onto a coffee table and then the sofa before falling 20 feet from an open window. But when she picked up Callum from the lawn, he seemed fine, and doctors found nothing wrong. “They told me the reason he wasn’t injured was because he is so young and has supple bones so he effectively bounced,” said Longhurst. “It’s a miracle.”