Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday will be sunny with a high of fifty-nine.  Sunrise is 7:12 and sunset 6:07 [corrected from 8:07], for 10h 54m 45s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 26.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW poll asked whether, as in the case of a New York restaurateur’s establishments, restaurants generally should abandon tipping.  A majority of respondents (57.89%) voted to preserve tipping as an option.

On this day in 1867, America takes possession of Alaska from Russia:

The transfer ceremony took place in Sitka on October 18, 1867. Russian and American soldiers paraded in front of the governor’s house; the Russian flagwas lowered and the American flag raised amid peals of artillery.

A description of the events was published in Finland six years later, written by a blacksmith named T. Ahllund, who had been recruited to work in Sitka only less than two years previously.^[25]

“

We had not spent many weeks at Sitka when two large steam ships arrived there, bringing things that belonged to the American crown, and a few days later the new governor also arrived in a ship together with his soldiers. The wooden two-story mansion of the Russian governor stood on a high hill, and in front of it in the yard at the end of a tall spar flew the Russian flag with the double-headed eagle in the middle of it. Of course, this flag now had to give way to the flag of the United States, which is full of stripes and stars. On a predetermined day in the afternoon a group of soldiers came from the American ships, led by one who carried the flag. Marching solemnly, but without accompaniment, they came to the governor’s mansion, where the Russian troops were already lined up and waiting for the Americans. Now they started to pull the [Russian double-headed] eagle down, but — whatever had gone into its head — it only came down a little bit, and then entangled its claws around the spar so that it could not be pulled down any further. A Russian soldier was therefore ordered to climb up the spar and disentangle it, but it seems that the eagle cast a spell on his hands, too — for he was not able to arrive at where the flag was, but instead slipped down without it. The next one to try was not able to do any better; only the third soldier was able to bring the unwilling eagle down to the ground. While the flag was brought down, music was played and cannons were fired off from the shore; and then while the other flag was hoisted the Americans fired off their cannons from the ships equally many times. After that American soldiers replaced the Russian ones at the gates of the fence surrounding the Kolosh [i.e. Tlingit] village.

”

When the business with the flags was finally over, Captain of 2nd Rank Aleksei Alekseyevich Peshchurov said: “General Rousseau, by authority from His Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, I transfer to the United States the territory of Alaska.” General Lovell Rousseau accepted the territory. (Peshchurov had been sent to Sitka as commissioner of the Russian government in the transfer of Alaska.) A number of forts, blockhouses and timber buildings were handed over to the Americans. The troops occupied the barracks; General Jefferson C. Davis established his residence in the governor’s house, and most of the Russian citizens went home, leaving a few traders and priests who chose to remain.^[26][27]

On this day in 1967, police and students clash at UW-Madison:

On this date club-wielding Madison police joined campus police to break up a large anti-war demonstration on the UW-Madison campus. Sixty-five people, including several officers, were treated for injuries. Thirteen student leaders were ordered expelled from school. State Attorney General Bronson La Follette criticized the police for using excessive brutality. [Source: They Marched Into Sunlight]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday will be partly cloudy with a high of fifty-three.  Sunrise is 7:11 and sunset 6:08, for 10h 57m 31s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 18.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1777, Burgoyne surrenders to Horatio Gates at Saratoga, and in consequence America wins French aid during the Revolution:

The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led a large invasion army up the Champlain Valley from Canada, hoping to meet a similar force marching northward from New York City; the southern force never arrived, and Burgoyne was surrounded by American forces in upstate New York. Burgoyne fought two small battles to break out. They took place eighteen days apart on the same ground, 9 miles (14 km) south of Saratoga, New York. They both failed. Trapped by superior American forces, with no relief in sight, Burgoyne surrendered his entire army on October 17. His surrender, says historian Edmund Morgan, “was a great turning point of the war, because it won for Americans the foreign assistance which was the last element needed for victory.^[8]

On this day in 1970, Pres. Nixon visits Green Bay:

On this date President Richard Nixon traveled to Green Bay to speak at a testimonial dinner in honor of Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr. [Source: The American Presidency Project]

Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ll have a more autumn-like Friday: partly cloudy with a high of forty-nine. Sunrise is 7:10 and sunset 6:10, for 11h 00m 19s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 10.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1962, Pres. Kennedy was told of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba:

On October 15, the CIA’s National Photographic Interpretation Center reviewed the U-2 photographs and identified objects that they interpreted as medium range ballistic missiles. That evening, the CIA notified the Department of State and at 8:30 pm EDT, National Security AdviserMcGeorge Bundy chose to wait until the next morning [October 16, 1962] to tell the President. Secretary of DefenseRobert McNamara was briefed at midnight. The next morning, Bundy met with Kennedy and showed him the U-2 photographs and briefed him on the CIA’s analysis of the images.^[31] At 6:30 pm EDT, Kennedy convened a meeting of the nine members of the National Security Council and five other key advisors,^[32] in a group he formally named the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) after the fact on October 22 by the National Security Action Memorandum 196.^[33] Without informing the members of EXCOMM, President Kennedy tape recorded all of their proceedings, and Sheldon M. Stern, head of the Kennedy library has transcribed some of them.^[34][35]

The U.S. had no plan in place because U.S. intelligence had been convinced that the Soviets would never install nuclear missiles in Cuba. The EXCOMM quickly discussed several possible courses of action, including:^[36]

1. Do nothing: American vulnerability to Soviet missiles was not new.
2. Diplomacy: Use diplomatic pressure to get the Soviet Union to remove the missiles.
3. Secret approach: Offer Castro the choice of splitting with the Russians or being invaded.
4. Invasion: Full force invasion of Cuba and overthrow of Castro.
5. Air strike: Use the US Air Force to attack all known missile sites.
6. Blockade: Use the US Navy to block any missiles from arriving in Cuba….

On this day in 1968, the Milwaukee Bucks play their first game:

On this date the Milwaukee Bucks opened their first season with an 89-84 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The loss was witnessed by 8,467 fans in the Milwaukee Arena. The starting lineup featured Wayne Embry at center, Fred Hetzel and Len Chappell at forward, and Jon McGlocklin and Guy Rodgers in the backcourt. Larry Costello was the head coach. The Bucks had its first win in their sixth game of the season with a 134-118 victory over the Detroit Pistons. [Source: Milwaukee Bucks]

Here’s the final game in Puzzability‘s weekly series, Series Cancellations:

This Week’s Game — October 12-16

Series Cancellations

Let’s see what you can put together for this week’s TV viewing. For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get the full name of a current TV drama.

Example:

Macabre illustrator Edward / elf’s boss / rock opera by The Who

Answer:

Grey’s Anatomy (Gorey / Santa / Tommy)

What to Submit:

Submit the TV show’s name and the smaller words (as “Grey’s Anatomy (Gorey / Santa / Tommy)” in the example) for your answer.

Friday, October 16

Otherwise / convened / person who certifies a legal document

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be mostly sunny with a high of sixty-seven.  Sunrise is 7:08 and sunset 6:12, for 11h 03m 07s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 5.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

One might think of Syria as a civil war, and now a proxy war, but who’s fighting whom?  It’s hard to sort it all out, but Vox makes the attempt:

On this day in 1964, the Soviet Union replaces one dictator with another.  The New York Times reported the news the next day:

Moscow, Friday, Oct. 16–Premier Khrushchev has been deprived of political power in the Soviet Union.

He was replaced by Leonid I. Brezhnev, 57 years old, as First Secretary of the Communist party and by Aleksei N. Kosygin, 60, as Premier.

Mr. Khrushchev, who is 70, even lost his seat in the Presidium of the Central Committee of the party, the third most important position he held in the leadership.

This indicated that he had fallen into disgrace.

[Dispatches did not mention if Mr. Khrushchev had been removed from the Central Committee itself. Under normal procedure such action would come at a meeting of the Soviet Communist party Congress.]

On this day in 1885, Wisconsin lumbermen say they’ve had enough:

On this date 2,500 Marinette-Menominee lumbermen walked off the job to support a reduction in workday hours. Mill owners locked out the workers in an attempt to force acceptance of an eleven-hour workday. The lockout failed as many lumbermen simply moved away from the area rather than agree to work eleven hour days. The employers were forced to negotiate with unions and conceded to a ten-hour work day and cash payment for wages. To learn more about lumber and Wisconsin History, visit Turning Points. [Source: A Labor History Anthology, p.24]

Here’s the Thursday game from Puzzability:

This Week’s Game — October 12-16

Series Cancellations

Let’s see what you can put together for this week’s TV viewing. For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get the full name of a current TV drama.

Example:

Macabre illustrator Edward / elf’s boss / rock opera by The Who

Answer:

Grey’s Anatomy (Gorey / Santa / Tommy)

What to Submit:

Submit the TV show’s name and the smaller words (as “Grey’s Anatomy (Gorey / Santa / Tommy)” in the example) for your answer.

Thursday, October 15

Hotel cleaner / get a smile out of / proofreader’s insertion mark / military force

Good morning, Whitewater.

Midweek will be sunny with a high of sixty-four. Sunrise is 7:07 and sunset 8:13, for 11h 05m 55s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize:

Oslo, Norway, Oct. 14–The Nobel Peace prize for 1964 was awarded today to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The 35-year-old civil rights leader is the youngest winner of the prize that Dr. Alfred Nobel instituted since the first was awarded in 1901.

The prize honors acts “for the furtherance of brotherhood among men and to the abolishment or reduction of standing armies and for the extension of these purposes.”

The Norwegian state radio changed its program schedule tonight to broadcast a 30-minute program in honor of Dr. King. In a broadcast from Atlanta, Ga., Dr. King said that he was deeply moved by the honor.

Dr. King said that “every penny” of the prize money, which amounts to about $54,000, would be given to the civil rights movement.

“I am glad people of other nations are concerned with our problems here,” he said. He added that he regarded the prize as a sign that world public opinion was on the side of those struggling for freedom and dignity.

He also said he saw no political implications in the award. “I am a minister of the gospel, not a political leader,” he said.

The Nobel Committee has a English-language page for each laureate, including Dr. King.

On this day in 1912, while campaigning as an independent candidate for president, Theodore Roosevelt is shot in Milwaukee:

On the night of October 14, 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was shot in Milwaukee. Roosevelt was in Wisconsin stumping as the presidential candidate of the new, independent Progressive Party, which had split from the Republican Party earlier that year. Roosevelt already had served two terms as chief executive (1901-1909), but was seeking the office again as the champion of progressive reform. Unbeknownst to Roosevelt, a New York bartender named John Schrank had been stalking him for three weeks through eight states. As Roosevelt left Milwaukee’s Hotel Gilpatrick for a speaking engagement at the Milwaukee Auditorium and stood waving to the gathered crowd, Schrank fired a .38-caliber revolver that he had hidden in his coat.

Roosevelt was hit in the right side of the chest and the bullet lodged in his chest wall. Seeing the blood on his shirt, vest, and coat, his aides pleaded with him to seek medical help, but Roosevelt trivialized the wound and insisted on keeping his commitment. His life was probably saved by the speech, since the contents of his coat pocket — his metal spectacle case and the thick, folded manuscript of his talk — had absorbed much of the force of the bullet. Throughout the evening he made light of the wound, declaring at one point, “It takes more than one bullet to kill a Bull Moose,” but the candidate spend the next week in the hospital and carried the bullet inside him the rest of his life.

Schrank, the would-be assassin, was examined by psychiatrists, who recommended that he be committed to an asylum. A judge concurred and Schrank spent the remainder of his life incarcerated, first at the Northern Hospital for the Insane in Oshkosh, then at Central State Hospital for the criminally insane at the state prison at Waupun. The glass Roosevelt drank from on stage that night was acquired by the Wisconsin Historical Museum. You can read more about the assassination attempt on their Museum Object of Week pages.

Here’s Puzzability‘s midweek game, from a series entitled, Series Cancellations:

This Week’s Game — October 12-16

Series Cancellations

Let’s see what you can put together for this week’s TV viewing. For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get the full name of a current TV drama.

Example:

Macabre illustrator Edward / elf’s boss / rock opera by The Who

Answer:

Grey’s Anatomy (Gorey / Santa / Tommy)

What to Submit:

Submit the TV show’s name and the smaller words (as “Grey’s Anatomy (Gorey / Santa / Tommy)” in the example) for your answer.

Wednesday, October 14

Anjous and Bartletts / common album type before stereo / less and less easy to see or hear / sunrise direction