History of New York City (prehistory–1664) as a city and to incidentally allow New York to celebrate its 350th anniversary just 11 years after its 300th. The English renamed the colony New York, after the king's brother James, Duke of York and on June 12, 1665, appointed Thomas Willett the first of the mayors of New York. The city grew northward, remaining the largest and most important city in the colony of New York. History of New York City (prehistory–1664) The history of New York City has been influenced by the prehistoric geological formation during the last glacial period of the territory that is today New
Kenneth Martin Willett command. Kenneth Martin Willett Lt. Kenneth Martin Willett (April 9, 1919 – September 27, 1942) was an American naval reserve officer who died in during World War II in the South Atlantic Ocean. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. Willett enlisted in the Naval Reserve as an apprentice seaman on July 9, 1940. Appointed to the Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School, he was commissioned as an Ensign and assigned to the USS California (BB-44), where he served until November 1941. He then reported to the 12th Naval District for duty at the Armed Guard Center, San Francisco, California, in January