Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday will bring clouds to Whitewater, with a high of twenty-eight. (We’ve a good chance of snow Saturday night and into Sunday.) Sunrise is 7:09 AM and sunset 7:07 PM, for 9h 57m 37s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 89.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

What would a pitbull-dachshund mix look like? It would look like Rami, a dog rescued and awaiting adoption at the Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society:

On this day in 1990, a new establishment opens in the then-Soviet Union:

The Soviet Union’s first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens in Moscow. Throngs of people line up to pay the equivalent of several days’ wages for Big Macs, shakes, and french fries.

The appearance of this notorious symbol of capitalism and the enthusiastic reception it received from the Russian people were signs that times were changing in the Soviet Union. An American journalist on the scene reported the customers seemed most amazed at the “simple sight of polite shop workers…in this nation of commercial boorishness.” A Soviet journalist had a more practical opinion, stating that the restaurant was “the expression of America’s rationalism and pragmatism toward food.” He also noted that the “contrast with our own unrealized pretensions is both sad and challenging.”

For the average Russian customer, however, visiting the restaurant was less a political statement than an opportunity to enjoy a small pleasure in a country still reeling from disastrous economic problems and internal political turmoil.

Good morning, Whitewater.

The week ends with a partly sunny day and a high of twenty-three. Sunrise is 7:10 AM and sunset is 5:05 PM, for 9h 55m 16s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 82% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1882, FDR is born:

Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, New York to businessman James Roosevelt I (1828–1900) and Sara Ann Delano (1854–1941). His parents were sixth cousins[6] and both were from wealthy old New York families. They were of mostly English descent; Roosevelt’s patrilineal great-grandfather, Jacobus Roosevelt III, was of Dutch ancestry, and his mother’s maiden name, Delano, could be traced to a French Huguenot immigrant ancestor of the 17th century.[8][9] Their only child[10] was to have been named Warren, but Sara’s infant nephew of that name had recently died.[11] Their son was named for Sara’s uncle Franklin Hughes Delano.[8]

Roosevelt grew up in an atmosphere of privilege (reportedly, when James Roosevelt took his young son to visit President Grover Cleveland in the White House, the busy president told Franklin, “I have one wish for you, little man, that you will never be President of the United States.”[12]) Sara was a possessive mother; James, 54 when Franklin was born, was considered by some as a remote father, though biographer James MacGregor Burns indicates James interacted with his son more than was typical at the time.[13] Sara was the dominant influence in Franklin’s early years;[14] she once declared, “My son Franklin is a Delano, not a Roosevelt at all.”[6] Frequent trips to Europe—he made his first at the age of two, and went with his parents every year from the ages of seven to 15[15]—helped Roosevelt become conversant in German and French;[16] being arrested with his tutor by police four times in one day in the Black Forest for minor offenses may have affected the future president’s view of German character.[17] He learned to ride, shoot, row, and play polo and lawn tennis. Roosevelt also took up golf in his teen years, becoming a skilled long hitter.[18] He learned to sail, and his father gave him a sailboat at the age of 16 which he named “New Moon”.[19]

There is much, I think, to doubt in Roosevelt’s economic program, but that he loved common people and that he tirelessly led America in war against genuine evil is beyond any reasonable doubt.

On this day in 1866, the 9th stands down:

1866 – (Civil War) 9th Wisconsin Infantry Mustered Out
The 9th Wisconsin Infantry mustered out after serving in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas, including the Battle of Prairie Grove. It lost 191 enlisted men during service; 77 were killed and 114 died from disease.

Google-a-Day asks a question about flight:

When birds remain airborne and moving without flapping their wings, on what are they gliding?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday will offer a wintry mix of flurries and freezing drizzle in the morning, with a high of thirty-four. Sunrise is 7:11 AM and sunset 5:05 PM, for 9h 52m 56s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 73.6% of its visible disk illuminated. It’s still January, a month associated with cold and dark nights, yet the days are actually growing longer, and sunset is even now past five o’clock. Each day is, in fact, getting a bit longer; although it’s cold now, it’s these successive days are getting brighter.

For the first time in over a century, there’s a confirmed sighting in Yosemite National Park of a Sierra Nevada red fox:

Don Neubacher, the park’s superintendent, said he’s “thrilled” by the news. He called the species “one of the most rare and elusive animals in the Sierra Nevada.” It’s the first time the fox has been spotted in the park in nearly 100 years.

Indeed, little is known about the fox in part because they’re so hard to track down. According to a fact sheet from the U.S. Forest Service, the Sierra Nevada red fox lives in remote and rugged habitats. They’re solitary and have a habitat range from California to southern Oregon and western Nevada. It’s thought 50 of them may remain, but the fact sheet notes that there could be as few as 15.

Striking.

Google-a-Day asks about literature:

Early in Conrad’s 1903 novella, Marlow makes a comment “one of the dark places on earth”. About what place does he say this?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Our Wednesday will be mostly cloudy with a high of thirty-three. Sunrise is 7:12 AM and sunset 5:03 PM, for 9h 50m 39s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 64% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Tech Park Board meets at 8 AM, and the Community Development Authority at 5 PM.

On this day in 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all seven members of the crew. Here is how the New York Times reported the loss:

Cape Canaveral, Fla. Jan. 28 — The space shuttle Challenger exploded in a ball of fire shortly after it left the launching pad today, and all seven astronauts on board were lost.

The worst accident in the history of the American space program, it was witnessed by thousands of spectators who watched in wonder, then horror, as the ship blew apart high in the air.

Flaming debris rained down on the Atlantic Ocean for an hour after the explosion, which occurred just after 11:39 A. M. It kept rescue teams from reaching the area where the craft would have fallen into the sea, about 18 miles offshore.

It seemed impossible that anyone could have lived through the terrific explosion 10 miles in the sky, and officials said this afternoon that there was no evidence to indicate that the five men and two women aboard had survived….

On this day in 1959, the Packers name a new coach:

1959 – Lombardi Named Packers Coach
On this date Vince Lombardi was named head coach of the Packers. He had been the offensive backfield coach of the New York Giants for the previous five seasons. Lombardi went on to coach the Packers for nine years, winning five NFL Championships and victories in Super Bowls I and II. [Source: Packers.com]

Google-a-Day asks a poetry question:

What poem title did T. S. Eliot say he created by combining the titles of a romance by William Morris with the title of a Rudyard Kipling poem?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday will be mostly cloudy, with a high of thirty. Sunrise is 7:13 AM and sunset 5:01 PM, for 9h 48m 23s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 53.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets today at 4:30 PM.

Today is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Early this morning, an asteroid about the size of an aircraft carrier passed close to Earth, at a distance of three-quarters of a million miles:

For more about asteroid 2004 BL86, see Best images! Asteroid 2004 BL86, as it swept near Earth @ EarthSky.

Google-a-Day asks a pop culture question:

The actor who played handyman George on “Facts of Life” earned a 2012 Oscar nomination. What state is the setting for the movie that earned this actor the nomination?