Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday in town will have a forty-precent chance of showers and a high of sixty-two. Sunrise is 6:52 AM and sunset is 6:36 PM [corrected from 8:36 PM as we’d never have that much daylight in September], for 11h 43m 41s of daytime. We’ve a new moon today, with just .3% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1954, the United States Navy commissions the USS Nautilus:

The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who joined the U.S. atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in charge of the navy’s nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic submarine. Regarded as a fanatic by his detractors, Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering the world’s first nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1952, the Nautilus‘ keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman, and on January 21, 1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across its bow as it was launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first ran under nuclear power on the morning of January 17, 1955.

Much larger than the diesel-electric submarines that preceded it, the Nautilusstretched 319 feet and displaced 3,180 tons. It could remain submerged for almost unlimited periods because its atomic engine needed no air and only a very small quantity of nuclear fuel. The uranium-powered nuclear reactor produced steam that drove propulsion turbines, allowing the Nautilus to travel underwater at speeds in excess of 20 knots.

JigZone‘s puzzle for today is of a covered bridge:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of sixty-nine. Sunrise is 6:51 AM and sunset is 6:37 PM, for 11h 46m 34s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 2.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Fire Department has a business meeting tonight at 7 PM.

On this day in 1899, the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen is born:

László József Bíró … 29 September 1899 – 24 October 1985) was the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen.[1]

Bíró was born in Budapest, Hungary,[2] in 1899 into a Jewish family. His father’s name was Mózes Mátyás Schweiger and his mother’s name was Janka Ullmann. He had one brother, György Bíró. He presented the first production of the ballpoint pen at the Budapest International Fair in 1931.[2]

While working as a journalist in Hungary, he noticed that the ink used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge-free. He tried using the same ink in a fountain pen but found that it would not flow into the tip, as it was too viscous. Working with his brother György,[1] a chemist, he developed a new tip consisting of a ball that was free to turn in a socket, and as it turned it would pick up ink from a cartridge and then roll to deposit it on the paper. Bíró patented the invention in Paris in 1938.

See, also,  Who was Ladislao José Biro, how did he invent the ballpoint pen and how did it help in World War II?

On this day in 1957, the Packers dedicate a new stadium:

On this date the Green Bay Packers dedicated City Stadium, now known as Lambeau Field, and defeated the Chicago Bears, 21-17. In the capacity crowd of 32,132 was Vice president Richard Nixon. [Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

JigZone chooses an acorn photo for today’s daily puzzle:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Midweek in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of sixty, and an even chance of afternoon showers. Sunrise is 6:50 AM and sunset is 6:39 PM, for 11h 49m 26s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 6% of its visible disk illuminated.

The Tech Park Board meets at 8 AM today, and the Community Development Authority at 5 PM.

On this day in 1941, Ted Williams becomes the last player to hit .400:

On this day in 1941, the Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams plays a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics on the last day of the regular season and gets six hits in eight trips to the plate, to boost his batting average to .406 and become the first player since Bill Terry in 1930 to hit .400. Williams, who spent his entire career with the Sox, played his final game exactly 19 years later, on September 28, 1960, at Boston’s Fenway Park and hit a home run in his last time at bat, for a career total of 521 homeruns.

Williams was born on August 30, 1918, in San Diego, and began his major league career with the Red Sox in 1939. 1941 marked Williams’ best season. In addition to his .406 batting average–no major league player since him has hit .400–the left fielder led the league with 37 homers, 135 runs and had a slugging average of .735. Also that season, Williams, whose nicknames included “The Splendid Splinter” and “The Thumper,” had an on-base percentage of .553, a record that remained unbroken for 61 years, until Barry Bonds achieved a percentage of .582 in 2002.

In 1942, Williams won the American League Triple Crown, for highest batting average and most RBIs and homeruns. He duplicated the feat in 1947. In 1946 and 1949, he was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player and in June 1960, he became the fourth player in major league history to hit 500 homers. He was selected to the All-Star team 17 times.

Williams played his last game on September 28, 1960, and retired with a lifetime batting average of .344, a .483 career on-base percentage and 2,654 hits. His achievements are all the more impressive because his career was interrupted twice for military service: Williams was a Marine Corps pilot during World War II and the Korean War and as a result missed a total of nearly five seasons from baseball.

On this day in 1925, a noted computer engineer is born:

On this date Seymour R. Cray was born in Chippewa Falls. Cray received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He established himself in the field of large-scale computer design through his work for Engineering Associates, Remington Rand, UNIVAC, and Control Data Corporation.

In 1957 Cray built the first computer to use radio transistors instead of vacuum tubes. This allowed for the miniaturization of components which enhanced the performance of desktop computers.

In the 1960s he designed the world’s first supercomputer at Control Data. In 1972 he founded Cray Research in his hometown of Chippewa Falls where he established the standard for supercomputers with CRAY-1 (1976) and CRAY-2 (1985). He resigned from the company in 1981 to devote himself to computer design in the areas of vector register technology and cooling systems.

Cray died in a automobile accident on October 5, 1996. [Source: MIT and Cray Company]

JigZone serves up a dragonfly puzzle for Wednesday:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday in town will be mild, with a high of sixty-three, and an even chance of afternoon showers. Sunrise is 6:49 AM and sunset is 6:41 PM, for 11h 52m 20s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 11.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1959, Soviet leader Khrushchev ends his trip to the United States, after displaying the childishness more than one dictator has exhibited:

Khrushchev arrived in the United States on September 15. His plan was to tour America and conclude his trip nearly two weeks later with a summit meeting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Hopes were high that the visit marked a turning point in the Cold War and that perhaps the Soviet leader’s oft-proclaimed desire for “peaceful coexistence” with the United States would become a reality.

Before official business began, however, Khrushchev–the first Soviet head of state to visit the United States–took the opportunity to tour parts of America. At the top of his list was a visit to Hollywood. His trip to the land of make-believe took a bizarre turn, however, as he engaged in a verbal sparring match with the head of Twentieth Century Fox Studio.

Khrushchev, displaying his famous temper, threatened to return home after the studio chief made some ill-chosen remarks about U.S.-Soviet competition. Khrushchev’s outburst was nothing compared to the tantrum he threw when he learned he could not visit Disneyland because of security concerns. Returning to Washington, the Soviet leader began two days of talks with Eisenhower on a number of issues. Although no specific agreements were reached, both leaders resolved to continue their discussions in the future and keep the lines of communication open….

For Tuesday, JigZone‘s puzzle is of a house: