Good morning.

Monday brings showers and a high of fifty-nine.

Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets tonight at 6 PM.

Yesterday began the Washington Post‘s third annual Squirrel Week. Like politicians facing a change of view, my own opinion of squirrels has been evolving: I’m starting to like them more than I once did. John Kelly of the Post talks about his paper’s upcoming coverage:

Google-a-Day asks a sports reporting question: “What sportscaster, known for his catch phrase, “Oh my!” joined CBS in 2000 as a play-by-play announcer for the NFL?”

Good morning.

A sunny Sunday’s ahead, with a high of fifty-six, northwest winds at 5 to 10 MPH, and a waning crescent moon.

Here’s a quick review of recent readers’ responses to Friday FW polls:

NCAA D1 Basketball Champion: 53.33% said Louisville, and you’ve a good chance to be right, as it’s Louisville v. Michigan, Monday night at 8:23 CT in the Georgia Dome. I thought there’d be a Syracuse upset in the Final Four, but it’s Michigan (right you were, Phantom Stranger).

Favorite Easter Candy: Chocolate Rabbits win again, with 32.69% of the responses. That’s about the same as 2012 – another year and a dynasty’s confirmed.

Punxsutawney Phil, Innocent or Guilty: he’s cooked, with 81.25% declaring his guilt.

Guerrilla Gardening: most people say bold (not bad), with 71.43% in favor.

Last Snowfall Over One Inch: March 16-31 is the overwhelming choice, at 57.89%, and that seems right: I think the last accumulation greater than one inch was March 18th, using available NWS data.

On 4.7.1776, an American naval victory over England:

…Navy Captain John Barry, commander of the American warship Lexington, makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward and its cargo turned Captain Barry into a national hero and boosted the morale of the Continental forces….

Barry’s outstanding career has been memorialized on both sides of the Atlantic. A bridge bearing his name crosses the Delaware River, and Brooklyn, New York, is home to a park named for him. In addition, four U.S. Navy ships and a building at Villanova University carry his name, and statues in his honor stand in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and his birthplace, Wexford, Ireland. On September 13, 1981, President Ronald Reagan declared Commodore John Barry Day to honor a man he called one of the earliest and greatest American patriots, a man of great insight who perceived very early the need for American power on the sea.

4.7.1970 marks a first:

1970 – The Milwaukee Brewers’ First Game
On this date the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the many organized sports teams in Wisconsin, played their first game against the California Angels in front of 37,237 enthusiastic fans at County Stadium. [Source: Brewers’ History page]

Google-a-Day asks a very particular basketball question: “In the 2011/2012 Official Rules of the NBA you will learn the definition of what term on page 21?”

Good morning.

Saturday brings a chance of rain with a high of sixty-four.

So you’re paddling along in a kayak, and a possum swims by – what to do?

Here’s Eric Markt’s answer:

On this day in 1909, “explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson became the first men to reach the North Pole. The claim, disputed by skeptics, was upheld in 1989 by the Navigation Foundation.”

On 4.6.1831, an exodus:

1831 – Sauk Indians Leave Illinois & Wisconsin
On this date, in the spring of 1831, the Sauk Indians led by Chief Keokuk left their ancestral home near the mouth of the Rock River and moved across the Mississippi River to Iowa to fulfill the terms of a treaty signed in 1804. Many of the tribe, however, believed the treaty to be invalid and the following spring, when the U.S. government failed to provide them with promised supplies, this dissatisfied faction led by Black Hawk returned to their homeland on the Rock River, precipitating the Black Hawk War. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

Google-a-Day asks a history question: “What kind of wood is the 200-pound yoke that holds the 2080 pound bell that is on display at 520 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia?”

Good morning.

The week ends with a mostly sunny day and a high of forty-eight. We’ll get 12h 55m of sunlight, 13h 53m of daylight, north winds at 5 MPH, and a waning crescent moon.

On this day in 1774, Benjamin Franklin writes a satirical letter to Britain’s prime minister:

…Benjamin Franklin writes an open letter to Great Britain’s prime minister, Frederick, Lord North, from the Smyrna Coffee House in London. It was published in The Public Advertiser, a British newspaper, on April 15, 1774.

Franklin’s tongue-in-cheek letter suggested that the British impose martial law upon the colonies and appoint a “King’s Viceroy of all North America.” Franklin satirically went on to suggest that such centralized power over “Yankee Doodles,” who had “degenerated to such a Degree” from their British ancestors, “that one born in Britain is equal to twenty Americans,” would allow the crown to collect its taxes, then sell their impoverished colonies and colonists to Spain.

Smyrna Coffee House on St. James Street in London had been a meeting place of Whigs, or political liberals, since the 17th century. For Franklin to sign a letter drafted at Smyrna’s “A Friend of Military Government” was an obvious use of irony. The details of his purported plan for a military government, including the exclusive use of military courts in colonies known for their commitment to trial by jury, and “One Hundred to a Thousand Lashes in a frosty Morning” for offenders made Franklin s disdain for Lord North and his heavy-handed tactics clear.

In fact, Franklin’s letter proved prophetic when Lord North imposed martial law on Massachusetts the next month with the passage of the Massachusetts Government Act. General Thomas Gage received the appointment to institute the military government as the colony’s royal governor. Franklin had snidely suggested in his treatise, “that great Commander G—–l G—-e” could take but a few men and “so intimidate the Americans that the General might march through the whole Continent of North America, and would have little else to do but to accept of the Submission of several Towns as he passed.”

On 4.5.1860, a challenge to a duel:

1860 – Wisconsin Congressman Challenged to Duel
On this date, with the threat of civil war hanging in the air, John F. Potter, a Wisconsin representative in Congress, was challenged to a duel by Virginia representative Roger Pryor. Potter, a Northern Republican, had become a target of Southerners during heated debates over slavery. After one exchange, Pryor challenged Potter to a duel and Potter, as the one challenged, specified that bowie knives be used at a distance of four feet. Pryor refused and Potter became famous in the anti-slavery movement. Two years later, when Republicans convened in Chicago, Potter was given a seven foot blade as blade as a tribute; the knife hung with pride during all the sessions of the convention.  Before his death, Potter remembered the duel and proclaimed, “I felt it was a national matter – not any private quarrel – and I was willing to make sacrifices.” [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners, by Fred L. Holmes]

Here’s the Google-a-Day trivia question: “The 2010 tennis match that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes beat the previous record for the longest match by how many hours?”