Good morning. Saturday will be sunny with a high of sixteen, with wind chill values of zero to ten below.

On this day in 1941, at 7:48 AM local time, Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor.

Wisconsinite Russ Warrnier survived the attack:

1941 – Wisconsin Man Survives Pearl Harbor Attack
On this date Russ Warriner, a 25-year-old first class seaman on the USS Arizona, miraculously survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The explosions ripped apart the Arizona and killed nearly all his mates. At the time of the attack, Warriner was on the sky control platform, where his job was to spot enemy ships and planes. The bomb that struck the Arizona sliced through the steel deck and exploded into a fuel tank. Fire flared for seven seconds before it ignited 1.7 million pounds of explosives held in the ship’s magazine. More than 1,000 sailors died instantly, including many on the lookout platform with Warriner. Warriner lost his balance and fell onto the platform. His hands swept through fiery magnesium remaining from incendiary bombs and were nearly burned off. He was knocked off the ship, pulled aboard a small motor boat, and eventually made his way to shore.

Warriner was treated at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois, where plastic surgeons were able to repair his hands. Warriner settled in Wisconsin, married and raised two children. In the late 90s, Warriner was a retired piano tuner living in Beloit Township. [Source: Janesville Gazette]

Two years later, on 12.7.1943, the U.S. Navy christened a new battleship for the war:

1943 – USS-Wisconsin Christened
On this date the USS-Wisconsin was christened by Wisconsin’s first lady Madge Goodland. The ship was re-christened by Mrs. Goodland in March, 1951 during the Korean War. The USS-Wisconsin was inactive for many years but was recommissioned in 1989. [Source: First Ladies of Wisconsin, the Governor’s Wives by Nancy G. Williams, p.181]

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of seventeen.

On this day in 1884, workers finish the Washington Monument:

…in Washington, D.C., workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city’s namesake and the nation’s first president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L’Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument’s present location)….

Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.–a fitting tribute to the man known as the “Father of His Country.”

On 12.6.1821, Wisconsin gets her first post office:

1821 – First Wisconsin Post Office Established
On this date the first Wisconsin post office was established in Green Bay. The first postmaster was John Deane and the office is still in existence. [Source: Wisconsin: Its Territorial and Statehood Post Offices, compiled by Frank Moertl, p.30]]

Puzzability‘s Festival of Lights series concludes today:

This Week’s Game — December 2-6

Festival of Lights

Here’s a bright idea for Hanukkah. The answer to each day’s trivia question this week is a two-word phrase, name, or title in which each word can be followed by the word “light” to make a compound word or phrase.

Example:

What was achieved for the first time by the Soviet Union in 1959 with an unmanned craft and by the U.S. 10 years later with a manned craft?

Answer:

Moon landing (moonlight, landing light)

What to Submit:

Submit the two-word trivia answer (as “Moon landing” in the example) for your answer.

Friday, December 6

What New Year’s Eve performance-based celebration was originated in 1975 by a group of Boston artists as an alternative to boozy parties?

Good morning.

We’ll have a chance of flurries in the morning, then mostly sunny skies and temperatures falling into the twenties.

Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM, as will the Fire & Rescue Task Force (6 PM).

On this day in 1901, Walt Disney is born.

In the Wisconsin of December 5, 1879, a new organization:

1879 – Humane Society of Wisconsin Organized
On this date the Humane Society of Wisconsin was organized in Milwaukee. Inspired by Henry Bergh, a New York City philanthropist, and his Humane Movement, the state Humane Society was formed to protect both animals and children. However, with the formation of child protection laws in the early 1900s, the Humane Society of Wisconsin began to focus primarily on animal protection. [Source: Humane Society of Wisconsin]

Puzzability‘s Festival of Lights puzzles continue with their Thursday entry:

This Week’s Game — December 2-6

Festival of Lights

Here’s a bright idea for Hanukkah. The answer to each day’s trivia question this week is a two-word phrase, name, or title in which each word can be followed by the word “light” to make a compound word or phrase.

Example:

What was achieved for the first time by the Soviet Union in 1959 with an unmanned craft and by the U.S. 10 years later with a manned craft?

Answer:

Moon landing (moonlight, landing light)

What to Submit:

Submit the two-word trivia answer (as “Moon landing” in the example) for your answer.

Thursday, December 5

What Australian wine brand’s label features brackets around its name and a picture of a wallaby?

Good morning.

Wednesday brings an even chance of rain and a high of forty-nine to Whitewater.

On this day in 1780, George Washington’s cousin successfully tricks the enemy:

A force of Continental dragoons commanded by Colonel William Washington–General George Washington’s second cousin once removed–corners Loyalist Colonel Rowland Rugeley and his followers in Rugeley’s house and barn near Camden, South Carolina, on this day in 1780.

After nearly a year of brutal backcountry conflict between Washington and the fierce British commander Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton (who was infamous for Tarleton’s Quarter, the murder of colonial POWs on May 29, 1780 at Waxhaws), Washington had retreated to North Carolina the previous October. Commanded to return to the South Carolina theater by Brigadier General Daniel The Old Wagoner Morgan, Colonel Washington still lacked the proper artillery to dislodge the Loyalists. He told his cavalrymen to dismount and surround the barn. While out of Rugeley’s sight, Washington’s men fabricated a pine log to resemble a cannon.

This Quaker gun trick, named so because Quakers used it to be intimidating without breaching their pacifist vow of non-violence, worked beautifully. Washington faced the cannon toward the buildings in which the Loyalists had barricaded themselves and threatened bombardment if they did not surrender. Shortly after, Rugeley surrendered his entire force without a single shot being fired.

On 12.4.1933, Janesville won’t take the end of Prohibition for an answer:

1933 – Janesville Council Denies Prohibition End
On this date the Janesville Council drafted a “drastic liquor control law” that prohibited serving liquor. The law prohibited distilled spirits, but not beer, at bars, and limited liquor service to tables. Backrooms and “blinds” (closed booths) were also prohibited. The only place where packaged liquor was allowed to be sold was at municipal dispensaries. Further, bars were prohibited from selling packaged liquor. The next day, the city was uncommonly quiet as the 18th Amendment was repealed. For nearly 14 years, the 18th Amendment (the Prohibition Amendment), outlawed the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages within the U.S. [Source: Janesville Gazette, December 5, 1933, p.1]]

Here’s Puzzability‘s Wednesday entry:

This Week’s Game — December 2-6

Festival of Lights

Here’s a bright idea for Hanukkah. The answer to each day’s trivia question this week is a two-word phrase, name, or title in which each word can be followed by the word “light” to make a compound word or phrase.

Example:

What was achieved for the first time by the Soviet Union in 1959 with an unmanned craft and by the U.S. 10 years later with a manned craft?

Answer:

Moon landing (moonlight, landing light)

What to Submit:

Submit the two-word trivia answer (as “Moon landing” in the example) for your answer.

Wednesday, December 4

In what TV talent show’s first episode, in 1983, was Sharon Stone crowned the first winning spokesmodel?