Good morning.

It’s a lovely Mother’s Day ahead for Whitewater, with sunny skies, a high of fifty-one, and moderate winds at 10 to 15 mph. We’ll have 14h 32m of sunlight, 15h 36m of daylight, and a Waxing crescent moon.

On this day in 1903, Pres. Roosevelt becomes the first president recorded on film:

A cameraman named H.J. Miles filmed the president while riding in a parade in his honor. The resulting short move was titled The President’s Carriage and was later played on “nickelodeons” in arcades across America. The film showed Roosevelt riding in a carriage and escorted by the Ninth U.S. Cavalry Regiment, which was unusual for the time, according to the Library of Congress and contemporary newspapers, because it was an all-black company.

Roosevelt was the first president to take advantage of the impact motion pictures could have on the presidency. The photogenic president encouraged filmmakers to document his official duties and post-presidential personal activities until his death in 1919. He purposely played directly to the camera with huge gestures and thundering speeches. The Library of Congress holds much of the original film footage, including that of his second inaugural ceremony in 1905, a visit to Panama in 1906 and an African safari in 1909….

Here’s that film, that the Library of Congress placed on YouTube:

Also available online from the Library of Congress on its own YouTube Channel channel are over one-thousand other videos.

Google-a-Day asks about an editor: “Who was the editor who worked with the author to polish the novel that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961?”

Good morning.

Clouds today will yield to mostly sunny skies, a high of fifty-six, and winds from 15 to 25 mph (with gusts even higher).

On this day in 1973, a federal judge dismisses charges against Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case (although other issues were yet unresolved):

Los Angeles, May 11 — Citing what he called “improper Government conduct shielded so long from public view,” the judge in the Pentagon papers trial dismissed today all charges against Dr. Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony J. Russo Jr.

And he made it clear in his ruling that the two men would not be tried again on charges of stealing and copying the Pentagon papers.

“The conduct of the Government has placed the case in such a posture that it precludes the fair, dispassionate resolution of these issues by a jury,” he said.

David R. Nissen, the chief prosecutor, said, “It appears that the posture is such that no appeal will be possible.”

Defendants Not Vindicated

But the decision by United States District Court Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. did not vindicate the defendants; it chastised the Government. Nor did it resolve the important constitutional issues that the case had raised.

Tee original Pentagon Papers (United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense) are now available online.

On this day in 1955, Wisconsin loses an NBA team:

1955 – Milwaukee Hawks Relocate to St. Louis
On this date the NBA approved transferring the financially strapped Milwaukee Hawks to St. Louis. The Hawks stayed in St. Louis until 1968, then moved to Atlanta. [Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online]

A geography question from Google’s daily question: “The cities of Amsterdam, including Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht make up what area that is home to more than 40% of the population of The Netherlands?”

Good morning.

Whitewater will end her work week with scattered showers, north winds at 10 mph, and a high of fifty-five.

On this day in 1869, America has a transcontinental railroad:

…the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet in Promontory, Utah, and drive a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connects their railroads. This made transcontinental railroad travel possible for the first time in U.S. history. No longer would western-bound travelers need to take the long and dangerous journey by wagon train, and the West would surely lose some of its wild charm with the new connection to the civilized East.

Since at least 1832, both Eastern and frontier statesmen realized a need to connect the two coasts. It was not until 1853, though, that Congress appropriated funds to survey several routes for the transcontinental railroad. The actual building of the railroad would have to wait even longer, as North-South tensions prevented Congress from reaching an agreement on where the line would begin.

One year into the Civil War, a Republican-controlled Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act (1862), guaranteeing public land grants and loans to the two railroads it chose to build the transcontinental line, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. With these in hand, the railroads began work in 1866 from Omaha and Sacramento, forging a northern route across the country. In their eagerness for land, the two lines built right past each other, and the final meeting place had to be renegotiated….

On this day in 1865, the Wisconsin 1st Cavalry helps capture Jefferson Davis:

1865 – (Civil War) Confederacy President Jefferson Davis Captured
The 1st Wisconsin Cavalry was one of the first units sent to search for Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, after the surrender of General Robert E. Lee. A Michigan unit, also sent to find Davis, accidentally attacked the cavalry before dawn. A few hours later, both units captured the Confederate president in Irwinville, Georgia.

Google asks today about a nation’s father: “Who is known as the “father” of the country whose national drink is a strong alcoholic beverage made from pomace?

Good morning.

We’ll have showers and thunderstorms this afternoon in Whitewater, with a high of sixty-eight. New rainfall may amount range from a quarter to half of an inch.

On this day in 1874, Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who discovered the Egyptian tomb of King Tutankhamen, is born.

On 5.9.1950, a first for then-Milwaukee Arena:

1950 – First Sporting Event Held at Milwaukee Arena
On this date, in the first sporting event at the new Milwaukee Arena, Rocky Graziano scored a fourth-round TKO over Vinnie Cidone in a middleweight fight that drew 12,813 fans. The new Milwaukee Arena actually opened on April 9, 1950, but with a civic celebration rather than a sports event. [Source: Milwaukee Journal]

For today’s daily question from Google, something about naval tradition: “What is the term for the traditional ritual by which officers in the UK’s Royal Navy are retired?”

Good morning.

Whitewater’s midweek will be sunny, with a high of seventy-eight, and calm winds.

This morning the Tech Park Board meets at 8 AM, and in the evening the Zoning Rewrite Committee meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1884, Harry S Truman was born in Missouri.

Scientists have now built a tiny robot that flies…like a fly:

Ingenious.

On this day in 1891 DePere,

1891 – Arthur J. Altmeyer [is] Born, ‘Father of Social Security’

On this date Arthur J. Altmeyer, the “father of social security,” was born in DePere. Altmeyer was one of the seminal figures of the Social Security program in America. He was part of the President’s Committee on Economic Security that drafted the original legislative proposal in 1934. He was a member of the three-person Social Security Board created to run the new program, and he was Chairman of the Board or Commissioner for Social Security from 1937-1953. Altmeyer died on October 19, 1972 and is buried in Madison’s Forest Hill Cemetery. [Source: Social Security Adminsitration]

Google-a-Day has a soap opera question: “On the soap, ‘General Hospital,’ on January 23, Robin finally admitted to Patrick that she was away in what city?”

I’ve no idea of the answer, but I do know that soap operas look like they’re becoming an endangered species. Wait long enough, a Google may be able to ask, “On the last-remaining soap…”

Good morning.

Tuesday brings mostly sunny skies and a high of seventy-four to Whitewater.

Common Council meets this evening at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1945, war in Europe ends with Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender.

In London, V-E celebrations swept the city:

On this day in 1932 in Janesville, another episode from a failed Prohibition:

1932 – Illegal Distillery Discovered in Janesville
On this date Rupert E. Fessenden, Rock County’s chief deputy, discovered the largest ever illegal liquor distillery in southern Wisconsin. The distillery was found on the old Frances Willard estate south of the Wisconsin School for the Blind. Ironically, Willard was one of the founders of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. [Source: Janesville Gazette].

Google has a question about coyotes: “What is the source of the pressure that has caused coyotes, which were once essentially diurnal, to adjust to a more nocturnal behavior?”

Good morning.

Like yesterday, Monday will be mostly sunny, the temperature in the low seventies, with light winds. We’ll have 14h 18m of sunlight, 15h 21m of daylight, and three minutes more light tomorrow.

You may have been hungry for breakfast today, but probably not this enthusiastic:

It’s on this day in 1937 that the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg dirigible explodes in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Hindenburg Disaster from Carl Pugliese on Vimeo.

On 5.6.1915, Orson Welles is born in Kenosha:

1915 – Orson Welles Born

On this date George Orson Welles was born in Kenosha. The name George was soon dropped. The family moved to Chicago in 1919, and two years later, Welles’ parents separated. After his mother’s death in 1924, he travelled the world with his father, only to lose him in 1928. Welles turned down the chance at college in 1931, choosing instead to go on a sketching trip to Ireland. In 1934, Welles made his New York debut, playing Tybalt in Katherine Cornell’s staging of Romeo and Juliet.

In the mid 1930s, he established himself as a radio actor on The March of Time and The Shadow, among other shows. He began working with John Houseman and together they formed the Mercury Theatre in 1937. Their program, The Mercury Theatre on Air, became famous for the notorious events surrounding their version of The War of the Worlds in 1938, in which they provoked mass panic among listeners.

A renowned actor, writer, producer, and director, Welles is known best for his roles in such films as Citizen Kane (1941), Jane Eyre (1944), MacBeth (1948), Moby Dick (1956), A Man for all Seasons (1966), and Catch 22 (1970). Welles was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 1971 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1975.

Despite his lack of commercial success, the Directors Guild of America awarded him their highest award, the D.W. Griffith Award, in 1984. Welles was briefly married to Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth from 1943 to 1948, with whom he had one daughter. Orson Welles died on October 9, 1985. [Source: Wisconsin Film Office].

Google’s daily quiz wonders about geography: “The expansion of the earth’s surface is demonstrated by what U.S. state that is believed to be increasing by 1.2 “nanostrains” per year?”