Good morning.

Monday looks to be a sunny day, with a high of eighty-six, and northwest winds at 5 to 10 miles per hour.

On this day in 1962, the United States launched the Mariner 2 space probe to Venus. It was the first probe to reach another planet.

The Wisconsin Historical Society records Wisconsin’s role in creation of the typewriter, patented on this day in 1878:

On this date Christopher Latham Sholes patented the typewriter. The idea for this invention began at Kleinsteuber’s Machine Shop in Milwaukee in the late 1860s. A mechanical engineer by training, Sholes, along with associates Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soulé, spent hours tinkering with the idea. They mounted the key of an old telegraph instrument on a base and tapped down on it to hit carbon & paper against a glass plate. This idea was simple, but in 1868 the mere idea that type striking against paper might produce an image was a novelty.

Sholes proceeded to construct a machine to reproduce the entire alphabet. The prototype was sent to Washington as the required Patent Model. This original model still exists at the Smithsonian. Investor James Densmore provided the marketing impetus which eventually brought the machine to the Remington Arms Company. Although Remington mass-marketed his typewriter beginning in 1874, it was not an instant success. A few years later, improvements made by Remington engineers gave the machine its market appeal and sales skyrocketed. [Source: Wisconsin Lore and Legends, p.41]

Google’s daily puzzle asks about a man whose name led to a description: “What age in world history is named for the man who introduced pay for jurors?”

Good morning.

Sunday will be a warm day, with a high in the upper seventies, and a likelihood of thundershowers in the afternoon.

On this day in 1939, America saw her first televised major league baseball game:

On this day in 55 BC, Roman legions under Julius Caesar invaded Britain. The effort was limited, and a robust effort to conquer (parts of) Britain waited almost another ninety years. more >>

Good morning.

Whitewater’s Saturday will be sunny, with a high of ninety-one, and light winds from the south.

On this day in 1944, the Allies liberated Paris after four years of Nazi occupation.

Here’s how the frontpage of the New York Times reported the news of that very good day:

The Wisconsin Historical Society marks 8.25.1835 as a step along the way to Wisconsin’s creation:

1835 – Incorporation of the Wisconsin Internal Improvement Company

On this date the Michigan legislature incorporated the Wisconsin Internal Improvement Company to open communication between Green Bay and the Mississippi by land or water. It was also on this day that the Governor of the Michigan territory (the Wisconsin territory was not yet created), Stevens T. Mason, officially called for the creation of a western legistlative council. Both actions were critical to the creation of the Wisconsin Territory. [Source: Card File in WHS Library]

Good morning.

Friday will be partly sunny and hot, with a high of ninety-one, and winds from the south at 5 to 15 miles per hour.

On August 24, 79, Vesuvius erupted:

The Wisconsin Historical Society writes that this day in 1970 marks the anniversary of a 1970 bombing:

1970 – Sterling Hall Bombing on UW-Madison Campus

On this date a car bomb exploded outside Sterling Hall, killing research scientist Richard Fassnacht. Sterling Hall was targeted for housing the Army Mathematics Research Center and was bombed in protest of the war in Vietnam. The homemade bomb (2,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate soaked in aviation fuel) was detonated by the New Year’s Gang, aka Vanguard of the Revolution, who demanded that a Milwaukee Black Panther official be released from police custody, ROTC be expelled from the UW campus, and “women’s hours” be abolished on campus. The entire New Year’s Gang fled to Canada the evening of the explosion. Four men were charged with this crime: Karleton Armstrong, David Fine, Dwight Armstrong, and Leo Burt. All but Burt were captured and served time for their participation. Leo Burt remains at large.[Source: On Wisconsin (online PDF) Summer 2005]

For a book kindly recommended to me about the bombing, see the excellent Rads: The 1970 Bombing of the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin and Its Aftermath.

Google’s daily puzzle is perfect for physicists, professional or amateur: “In physics, what term describes the opposite of the reaction in which a particle and its antiparticle collide?”

Good morning.

Thursday’s early morning rain will give way to sunny skies with a high of ninety-one.

Over at LiveScience.com, there’s a collection of NASA satellite images showing Tropical Storm Isaac coming to life. The impressive technology that makes the video possible is exceeded only by the awesome beauty and power of the event it records.

Google’s daily puzzle asks about kinds of dinosaurs: “If your museum exhibit includes only the “bird-hipped” dinosaurs, which one would not belong: the stegosaurus, triceratops or allosaurus?” more >>