New York Public LibraryAn illustration thought to be that of the English explorer Henry Hudson. National Maritime Museum Amsterdam/Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum A 17th-century navigation journal at the Museum of the City of New York. Looking for something to celebrate? How about the commemoration of New York’s 400th birthday beginning next Saturday? On April 4, 1609, the English navigator Henry Hudson left Amsterdam harbor to search for a shortcut to Asia. Hudson’s instructions from the Dutch East India Company were to sail east, as he had on two earlier voyages that were thwarted by Arctic ice. Instead, inspired by insights gleaned from...