Good morning.

Here in town Veterans Day will be mostly sunny with a high of forty-eight.  Sunrise is 6:43 AM and sunset 4:34 PM, for 9h 51m 05s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 86.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

There will be an 11 AM ceremony marking the day on campus in the University Center’s Hamilton Room.

On this day in 1620, forty-one passengers on the Mayflower sign a political agreement while the ship is anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor.  On this day in 1964, the Rolling Stones play at the Milwaukee Auditorium.

Here’s the JigZone puzzle for Friday:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be sunny and windy with a high of sixty-one.  Sunrise is 6:42 AM and sunset 4:35 PM, for 9h 53m 22s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 77.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald sinks in Lake Superior, with the loss of all twenty-nine on board:

SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there.

For 17 years Fitzgerald carried taconiteiron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports. As a “workhorse,” she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own previous record.^[5][6] Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship’s intercom while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers (between Lakes Huron and Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship.^[5] Her size, record-breaking performance, and “DJ captain” endeared Fitzgerald to boat watchers.^[7]

Carrying a full cargo of ore pellets with Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command, she embarked on her ill-fated voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, on the afternoon of November 9, 1975. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, Fitzgerald joined a second freighter, SS Arthur M. Anderson. By the next day, the two ships were caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet (11 m) high. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet (160 m) deep, about 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) from Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario—a distance Fitzgerald could have covered in just over an hour at her top speed. Although Fitzgerald had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank; Captain McSorley’s last message to Anderson said, “We are holding our own.” Her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered.

Many books, studies, and expeditions have examined the cause of the sinking. Fitzgerald might have fallen victim to the high waves of the storm, suffered structural failure, been swamped with water entering through her cargo hatches or deck, experienced topside damage, or shoaled in a shallow part of Lake Superior. The sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the best-known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” after reading an article, “The Cruelest Month”, in the November 24, 1975, issue of Newsweek. The sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels.

On this day in 1862, a riot breaks out in Port Washington:

1862 – Draft Riot of 1862

On this date angry citizens protesting a War Department order for 300,000 additional troops, rioted in Port Washington, Ozaukee County. As county draft commissioner William A. Pors drew the first name, cannon fire resounded and a mob of over 1,000 angry citizens wielding clubs and bricks and carrying banners scrawled with the words “No Draft!” marched through the streets. The mob stormed the city destroying buildings, setting fires, and gutting the interior of homes and shops. Troops were brought in the next day to quell the violence. The Ozaukee rioters were captured and remained prisoners at Camp Randall for about a year before they were finally released. In all, more than a half-dozen homes were damaged and dozens of citizens were injured. [Source: Ozaukee Country Wisconsin]

JigZone‘s daily puzzle for Thursday is of macaroons:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Wednesday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of fifty-seven. Sunrise is 6:40 AM and sunset is 4:36 PM, for 9h 55m 41s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 67.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1938, the Night of Broken Glass sweeps Germany:

Kristallnacht (German pronunciation: … English: “Crystal Night”) or Reichskristallnacht …, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, Reichspogromnacht … or simply Pogromnacht …] ( listen), and Novemberpogrome … ( listen), was a pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938, carried out by SA paramilitary forces and German civilians. German authorities looked on without intervening.[1][2] The name Kristallnacht comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues had their windows smashed.[3]

Estimates of the number of fatalities caused by the pogrom have varied. Early reporting estimated that 91 Jewish people were murdered during the attacks.[3] Modern analysis of German scholarly sources by historians such as Richard J. Evans puts the number much higher. When deaths from post-arrest maltreatment and subsequent suicides are included, the death toll climbs into the hundreds. Additionally, 30,000 were arrested and incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps.[3]

Jewish homes, hospitals, and schools were ransacked, as the attackers demolished buildings with sledgehammers.[4] Over 1,000 synagogues were burned (95 in Vienna alone) and over 7,000 Jewish businesses destroyed or damaged.[5][6] Martin Gilbert writes that no event in the history of German Jews between 1933 and 1945 was so widely reported as it was happening, and the accounts from the foreign journalists working in Germany sent shock waves around the world.[4] The Times wrote at the time: “No foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings, of blackguardly assaults on defenseless and innocent people, which disgraced that country yesterday.”[7]

On this day in 1968, an earthquake shakes Wisconsin:

On this date one of the strongest earthquakes in the central United States occurred in south-central Illinois. Measured at a magnitude of 5.3, press reports from LaCrosse, Milwaukee, Port Washington, Portage, Prairie Du Chien, and Sheboygan indicated that the shock was felt in these cities. [Source: United States Geological Survey]

JigZone‘s puzzle for Wednesday is of trees by a lake:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Election Day in town will see an even chance of morning showers, with a high of fifty-six.  Sunrise is 6:39 AM and sunset 4:37 PM, for 9h 58m 02s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 56.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1895, Röntgen discovers X-rays:

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen … 27 March 1845 – 10 February 1923) was a German mechanical engineer and physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.^[2] In honour of his accomplishments, in 2004 the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) named element 111, roentgenium, a radioactive element with multiple unstable isotopes, after him….

In the late afternoon of 8 November 1895, Röntgen was determined to test his idea. He carefully constructed a black cardboard covering similar to the one he had used on the Lenard tube. He covered the Hittorf-Crookes tube with the cardboard and attached electrodes to a Ruhmkorff coil to generate an electrostatic charge. Before setting up the barium platinocyanide screen to test his idea, Röntgen darkened the room to test the opacity of his cardboard cover. As he passed the Ruhmkorff coil charge through the tube, he determined that the cover was light-tight and turned to prepare the next step of the experiment. It was at this point that Röntgen noticed a faint shimmering from a bench a few feet away from the tube. To be sure, he tried several more discharges and saw the same shimmering each time. Striking a match, he discovered the shimmering had come from the location of the barium platinocyanide screen he had been intending to use next.

Röntgen speculated that a new kind of ray might be responsible. 8 November was a Friday, so he took advantage of the weekend to repeat his experiments and make his first notes. In the following weeks he ate and slept in his laboratory as he investigated many properties of the new rays he temporarily termed “X-rays”, using the mathematical designation (“X”) for something unknown. The new rays came to bear his name in many languages as “Röntgen Rays” (and the associated X-ray radiograms as “Röntgenograms”).

On this day in 1870, Increase Lapham goes national:

On this date Increase Lapham recorded the first published national weather forecast, calling for “high winds and falling temperatures for Chicago, Detroit and the Eastern cities.” [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

Here’s JigZone‘s daily puzzle for Tuesday:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Monday in town will be mostly sunny with a high of sixty-four.  Sunrise is 6:38 AM and sunset 4:38 PM, for 10h 00m 24s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 46.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1916, Jeannette Rankin is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives:

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was the first woman to hold federal office in the United States when, in 1916, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives by the state of Montana.^[1] She won a second House term 24 years later, in 1940.

Each of Rankin’s Congressional terms coincided with initiation of U.S. military intervention in each of the World Wars. A lifelong pacifist, she was one of 50 House members (total of 56 in both chambers) who opposed the war declaration of 1917, and the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.^[2][3]

Rankin was also instrumental in initiating the legislation that eventually became the 19th Constitutional Amendment, granting unrestricted voting rights to women; and she championed the causes of gender equality and civil rights throughout a career that spanned more than six decades….

Rankin’s campaign for one of Montana’s two at-large House seats in the congressional election of 1916 was financed and managed by her brother Wellington, an influential member of the Montana Republican Party. The campaign involved traveling long distances to reach the state’s widely scattered population. Rankin rallied support at train stations, street corners, potluck suppers on ranches, and remote one-room schoolhouses. She was elected on November 7, by over 7,500 votes, to become the first female member of Congress.^[5][9]

JigZone‘s daily puzzle for Monday is of candy:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in town will be sunny with a high of sixty-seven. Sunrise is 6:37 AM and sunset is 4:39 PM, for 10h 02m 48s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 37.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1860, Americans elect Abraham Lincoln president of the United States:

Voter turnout was 81.2%, the highest in American history up to that time, and the second-highest overall (exceeded only in the election of 1876).^[16][17] All six Presidents elected since Andrew Jackson won re-election in 1832 had been one-term presidents, the last four with a popular vote under 51 percent.^[18] Lincoln won the Electoral College with less than 40 percent of the popular vote nationwide by carrying states above the Mason–Dixon lineand north of the Ohio River, plus the states of California and Oregon in the Far West. Unlike all of his predecessors, he did not carry even one slave-holding state, and he received no votes at all in ten of the fifteen slave states.

The Republican victory resulted from the concentration of votes in the free states, which together controlled a majority of the presidential electors.^[19] Population increases in the free states had far exceeded those seen in the slave states for many years before the election of 1860, hence their dominance in the Electoral College. The split in the Democratic party is sometimes held responsible for Lincoln’s victory,^[20] but he would still have won in the Electoral College, 169 to 134, even if all of the anti-Lincoln voters had united behind a single candidate. In the three states in which anti-Lincoln votes did combine into fusion tickets, Lincoln still won in two states and split the electoral vote of New Jersey. At most, a single opponent nationwide would only have deprived Lincoln of California and Oregon (both of which he only won via a plurality of the statewide vote), whose combined total of seven electoral votes would have made no difference to the result; every other state won by the Republicans was won by a clear majority of the vote.^[21]

Like Lincoln, Breckinridge and Bell won no electoral votes outside of their respective sections. While Bell retired to his family business, quietly supporting his state’s secession, Breckinridge served as a Confederate general. He finished second in the Electoral College with 72 votes, carrying 11 of 15 slave states (including South Carolina, whose electors were chosen by the state legislature, not popular vote). He won a distant third in national popular vote at 18 percent, but he accrued 50–75 percent in the first seven states that would become the Confederate States of America and took nine of the eleven states that eventually joined.^[22]

Bell carried three slave states (Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia) and lost Maryland by only 722 votes. Nevertheless, he finished a remarkable second in all the slave states won by Breckinridge and Douglas. He won 45–47 percent for Maryland, Tennessee and North Carolina and he canvassed respectably with 36–40 percent in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. Nonetheless, he came in last in the national popular vote at 12 percent.

Douglas was the only candidate who won electoral votes in both slave and free states (free New Jersey and slave Missouri). His support was the most widespread geographically; he finished second behind Lincoln in the popular vote with 29.5 percent, but last in the Electoral College. Douglas attained a 28–47 percent share in the states of the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Trans-Mississippi West, but slipped to 19–39 percent in New England. Outside his regional section, Douglas took 15–17 percent of the popular vote total in the slave states of Kentucky, Alabama and Louisiana, then 10 percent or less in the nine remaining slave states. Douglas, in his “Norfolk Doctrine”, reiterated in North Carolina, promised to keep the Union together by coercion if states proceeded to secede. The popular vote for Lincoln and Douglas combined was 70% of the turnout.

On this day in 1837, a city in Iowa becomes the Wisconsin Territory’s temporary capital:

1837 – Burlington, Iowa Selected as Temporary Capital

On this date Burlington, Iowa was chosen as a temporary capital of the Wisconsin Territory. A year earlier, legislators offered a bill making Madison the capital with a temporary capital in Dubuque until which time a permanent building could be constructed in Madison. Legislators also proposed the City of Belmont as a temporary capital. One month later, on December 12th, a fire destroyed the two-story temporary capital in Burlington. The new legislature moved its headquarters to the Webber and Remey’s store in Burlington where they conducted government affairs until June 1838.[Source: State of Wisconsin Blue Book]