Good morning, Whitewater.

Monday will be partly sunny with a high of seventy. Sunrise is 7:03 and sunset 7:02, for 11h 59m 04s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 21.4% of it visible disk illuminated.

Sometimes a videographer is in the right place at someone else’s wrong time, as was true for someone who recorded Pastor Maldonado’s crash at the 2015 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix:

(Maldonado was unhurt.)

On this day in 1926, Robert Goddard successfully launches a liquid-fueled rocket:

Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket,[1][2] which he successfully launched on March 16, 1926. Goddard and his team launched 34 rockets[3] between 1926 and 1941, achieving altitudes as high as 2.6 km (1.6 mi) and speeds as high as 885 km/h (550 mph).[3]

Goddard’s work as both theorist and engineer anticipated many of the developments that were to make spaceflight possible.[4] He has been called the man who ushered in the Space Age.[5]:xiii Two of Goddard’s 214 patented inventions — a multi-stage rocket (1914), and a liquid-fuel rocket (1914) — were important milestones toward spaceflight.[6] His 1919 monograph A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes is considered one of the classic texts of 20th-century rocket science.[7][8] Goddard successfully applied three-axis control, gyroscopes and steerable thrust to rockets, to effectively control their flight.

Although his work in the field was revolutionary, Goddard received very little public support for his research and development work. The press sometimes ridiculed his theories of spaceflight. As a result, he became protective of his privacy and his work. Years after his death, at the dawn of the Space Age, he came to be recognized as the founding father of modern rocketry.[9][10][11] He not only recognized the potential of rockets for atmospheric research, ballistic missiles and space travel but was the first to scientifically study, design and construct the rockets needed to implement those ideas.[12]…

Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled (gasoline and liquid oxygen) rocket on March 16, 1926, in Auburn, Massachusetts. Present at the launch were his crew chief, Henry Sachs, Esther Goddard, and Percy Roope, who was Clark’s assistant professor in the physics department. Goddard’s diary entry of the event was notable for its understatement:

March 16. Went to Auburn with S[achs] in am. E[sther] and Mr. Roope came out at 1 p.m. Tried rocket at 2.30. It rose 41 feet & went 184 feet, in 2.5 secs., after the lower half of the nozzle burned off. Brought materials to lab….[13]:143

His diary entry the next day elaborated:

March 17, 1926. The first flight with a rocket using liquid propellants was made yesterday at Aunt Effie’s farm in Auburn…. Even though the release was pulled, the rocket did not rise at first, but the flame came out, and there was a steady roar. After a number of seconds it rose, slowly until it cleared the frame, and then at express train speed, curving over to the left, and striking the ice and snow, still going at a rapid rate.[13]:143

The rocket, which was later dubbed “Nell”, rose just 41 feet during a 2.5-second flight that ended 184 feet away in a cabbage field,[51] but it was an important demonstration that liquid propellants were possible. The launch site is now a National Historic Landmark, the Goddard Rocket Launching Site.

Puzzability begins a new weekly series today, for St. Patrick’s week, focused on green:

This Week’s Game — March 16-20

Green Party

We’ve minted some new questions for jaded solvers. In this St. Patrick’s Day trivia quiz, the answer to each day’s question is a name or title that includes a shade of green.

Example:

For what 1978 movie did director Michael Cimino suggest that little-known Meryl Streep write her own lines to flesh out her underdeveloped role?

Answer:

The Deer Hunter

What to Submit:

Submit the name or title (as “The Deer Hunter” in the example) for your answer.

Monday, March 16

What Oscar-winning actress retired at age 26 to marry a prince, prompting Alfred Hitchcock to say that he was very happy she found herself such a good part?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday will be breezy with a high of sixty-three. Sunrise is 7:05 and sunset 7:01, for 11h 56m 09s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 30.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

When a stressed-out badger temporarily blockaded a Stockholm hotel, who was to blame: the badger or the hotel? In Friday’s FREE WHITEWATER poll, 1/3 of respondents blamed the badger, but 2/3 of respondents said it was the hotel’s fault.

On this day in 1783, Gen. Washington puts down discord among some Continental officers against Congress in the Newburgh Conspiracy:

On the morning of March 10 an unsigned letter began circulating in the army camp. Later acknowledged to be written by Major John Armstrong, Jr., aide to General Gates, the letter decried the army’s condition and the lack of Congressional support, and called upon the army to send Congress an ultimatum. Published at the same time was an anonymous call for a meeting of all field officers for 11 a.m. the next day.[21]

Washington reacted with dispatch. On the morning of the 11th in his general orders he objected to the “disorderly” and “irregular” nature of the anonymously called meeting, and announced that there would be a meeting of officers on the 15th instead. This meeting, he said, would be presided over by the senior officer present, and Washington requested a report of the meeting, implying that he would not attend. On the morning of the 12th a second unsigned letter appeared, claiming Washington’s agreement to a meeting as an endorsement of the conspirators’ position.[24] Washington, who had initially thought the first letter to be the work of individuals outside the camp (specifically citing Gouverneur Morris as a likely candidate), was compelled to admit this unlikely given the speed at which the second letter appeared.[25]

The March 15 meeting was held in the “New Building” or “Temple”, a 40 by 70 foot (12 by 21 m) building at the camp. After Gates opened the meeting, Washington entered the building to everyone’s surprise. He asked to speak to the officers, and the stunned Gates relinquished the floor. Washington could tell by the faces of his officers, who had not been paid for quite some time, that they were quite angry and did not show the respect or deference as they had toward Washington in the past.[26]

Washington then gave a short but impassioned speech, now known as the Newburgh Address, counseling patience. His message was that they should oppose anyone “who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil discord and deluge our rising empire in blood.”[27] He then produced a letter from a member of Congress to read to the officers. He gazed upon it and fumbled with it without speaking. He then took a pair of reading glasses from his pocket, which were new and few of the men had seen him wear them. He then said: “Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.”[28] This caused the men to realize that Washington had sacrificed a great deal for the Revolution, just as much as any of them. These, of course, were his fellow officers, most having worked closely with him for several years. Many of those present were moved to tears,[29] and with this act, the conspiracy collapsed as he read the letter. He then left the room, and General Knox and others offered resolutions reaffirming their loyalty. Knox and Colonel Brooks were then appointed to a committee to draft a suitable resolution. Approved by virtually the entire assembly, the resolution expressed “unshaken confidence” in Congress, and “disdain” and “abhorrence” for the irregular proposals published earlier in the week.[30] Historian Richard Kohn believes the entire meeting was carefully stage-managed by Washington, Knox, and their supporters.[30] The only voice raised in opposition was that of Colonel Timothy Pickering, who criticized members of the assembly for hypocritically condemning the anonymous addresses that only days before they had been praising.[31]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday in town will be mostly sunny with a high of forty six. Sunrise is 7:07 and sunset is 7:00, for 11h 53m 13s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 41.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

It’s Pi Day today, and not just any Pi Day, but a particularly impressive one:

Saturday is Pi Day.

But not just any Pi Day.

It’s the mother of all Pi Days. Pi Day of the Century. Heck, Pi Day of the Millennium.

It’s 3-14-15 — as any good geek knows, a date that corresponds with 3.1415, the first five digits of the infinite number pi. That calendar coincidence has math fans practically wriggling with glee, not to mention those who just appreciate the whimsy of celebrating a number that sounds like pastry.

You might say that’s irrational. Mathematicians would agree.

And therein lies the delight of Pi Day.

You probably remember pi from grade school, but here’s a quick refresher: Pi is the number that approximates the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. In other words, if you divide the circumference of any circle by its diameter, you always get pi, an irrational number that starts with 3.1415 and goes on forever. It shares its name with the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet.

The idea of celebrating Pi Day on March 14 — coincidentally, Albert Einstein’s birthday — started in the 1980s. The first large-scale celebration was organized in 1988 at the Exploratorium museum in San Francisco, and Pi Day got a boost two decades later when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution supporting its celebration in 2009….

Delicious.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday will be mostly sunny with a high of sixty-two. Sunrise is 7:08 and sunset is 6:59, for 11h 50m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 53% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1781, William Herschel announces the discovery of a planet:

Sir Frederick William Herschel,[1] KH, FRS (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-born British astronomer, composer, and brother of Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover, Herschel followed his father into the Military Band of Hanover, before migrating to Great Britain at the age of nineteen.

Herschel became interested in astronomy in 1773, and after constructing his first large telescope in 1774, he spent nine years carrying out thorough sky surveys, where his purpose was the investigation of double stars. The resolving power of the Herschel telescopes revealed that the nebulae in the Messier catalogue were clusters of stars: catalogues of nebulae were published in 1802 (2,500 objects) and 1820 (5,000 objects). In the course of an observation on 13 March 1781 he realized that one celestial body he had observed was not a star, but a planet, Uranus. This was the first planet to be discovered since antiquity and Herschel became famous overnight. As a result of this discovery George III appointed him ‘Court Astronomer’. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and grants were provided for the construction of new telescopes.

Herschel pioneered the use of astronomical spectrophotometry as a diagnostic tool, using prisms and temperature measuring equipment to measure the wavelength distribution of stellar spectra. Other work included an improved determination of the rotation period of Mars, the discovery that the Martian polar caps vary seasonally, the discovery of Titania and Oberon (moons of Uranus) and Enceladus and Mimas (moons of Saturn). In addition, he was the first person to discover the existence of infrared radiation. Herschel was knighted in 1816. He died in August 1822, and his work was continued by his only son, John Herschel….

In March 1781, during his search for double stars, Herschel noticed an object appearing as a nonstellar disk.[11] Herschel originally thought it was a comet or a star. He made many more observations of it, and afterwards Russian Academician Anders Lexell computed the orbit and found it to be probably planetary.[12] Herschel determined in agreement that it must be a planet beyond the orbit of Saturn.[13] He called the new planet the ‘Georgian star’ (Georgium sidus) after King George III, which also brought him favour; the name did not stick. In France, where reference to the British king was to be avoided if possible, the planet was known as ‘Herschel’ until the name ‘Uranus’ was universally adopted. The same year, Herschel was awarded the Copley Medal and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1782, he was appointed “The King’s Astronomer” (not to be confused with the Astronomer Royal). He and his sister subsequently moved to Datchet (then in Buckinghamshire but now in Berkshire) on 1 August 1782. He continued his work as a telescope maker and achieved an international reputation for their manufacture, profitably selling over 60 completed reflectors to British and Continental astronomers.[14]

Here’s the final game in Puzzability‘s Miss Taken series:

This Week’s Game — March 9-13

Miss Taken

Who are all the missing misses? For each day this week, we started with a name or word that can follow “Miss,” like “Congeniality” or “Hannigan.” Then we hid it in a sentence, with spaces added as necessary. The answer spans at least two words in the sentence and starts and ends in the middle of words. The day’s clue gives the sentence with a girl in place of the answer.

Example:

I think the creator of this strawberry rhubarb pie reciieved the utmost in baking perfection.

Answer:

Peach (recipe achieved)

What to Submit:

Submit the name or word (as “Peach” in the example) for your answer.

Friday, March 13

At the Atlanta airport, my bad experience witpered my willingness to ever rent a car from them again.

Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ll have a sunny day with a high of sixty-two in the Whippet City today. Sunrise is 7:10 and sunset 6:58, for 11h 47m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous, with 63.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1933, FDR gives his first fireside chat:

…eight days after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first national radio address or “fireside chat,” broadcast directly from the White House.

Roosevelt began that first address simply: “I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking.” He went on to explain his recent decision to close the nation’s banks in order to stop a surge in mass withdrawals by panicked investors worried about possible bank failures. The banks would be reopening the next day, Roosevelt said, and he thanked the public for their “fortitude and good temper” during the “banking holiday.”

Here is the first part of that chat:

Puzzability‘s Thursday game is part of the week’s Miss Taken series:

This Week’s Game — March 9-13

Miss Taken

Who are all the missing misses? For each day this week, we started with a name or word that can follow “Miss,” like “Congeniality” or “Hannigan.” Then we hid it in a sentence, with spaces added as necessary. The answer spans at least two words in the sentence and starts and ends in the middle of words. The day’s clue gives the sentence with a girl in place of the answer.

Example:

I think the creator of this strawberry rhubarb pie reciieved the utmost in baking perfection.

Answer:

Peach (recipe achieved)

What to Submit:

Submit the name or word (as “Peach” in the example) for your answer.

Thursday, March 12

The mint juleps at the elegant picnic were of a high capical of the hostess’s other high-class events.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Our morning will be foggy, giving way to sunny skies and a high of forty-nine. Sunrise is 7:12 and sunset 6:56, for 11h 44m 27s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 72.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1941, Pres. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Bill into law, assuring Britain and others a supply of armaments in their fight against Nazi Germany. Here is a New York Times account of the signing:

Washington, March 11 _ President Roosevelt signed the history making lease-lend bill at 3:50 P. M. today immediately after receiving it from the Capitol, where the House completed action by accepting the Senate amendments by a vote of 317 to 71.

Five minutes after the bill was signed the President approved a list of undisclosed quantities of war materials to be transferred at once from the American Army and Navy to the British and the Greeks, to bolster these powers in their life-and-death struggle with the Axis. Most of these first materials, the nature of which the President guarded, will go to Great Britain. Having thus promptly set the machinery to motion toward making the United States “the Arsenal of democracy,” Mr. Roosevelt began work on a request to be sent to Congress tomorrow for an immediate appropriation of $7,000,000,000 with which to press the lease-lend effort to the fullest possible extent under the new law. This, he intimated, would be likely to include help to China as well as to Great Britain and Greece, and to all other nations which later may find themselves under threat of the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo alliance.

Puzzability offers the Wednesday game in its Miss Taken series:

This Week’s Game — March 9-13

Miss Taken

Who are all the missing misses? For each day this week, we started with a name or word that can follow “Miss,” like “Congeniality” or “Hannigan.” Then we hid it in a sentence, with spaces added as necessary. The answer spans at least two words in the sentence and starts and ends in the middle of words. The day’s clue gives the sentence with a girl in place of the answer.

Example:

I think the creator of this strawberry rhubarb pie reciieved the utmost in baking perfection.

Answer:

Peach (recipe achieved)

What to Submit:

Submit the name or word (as “Peach” in the example) for your answer.

Wednesday, March 11

My elderly aunt finds correct use of gramasing to the ear, and won’t put up with any misused words.