Merry Christmas, Whitewater.

Christmas Day in Whitewater will be a mixture of clouds and sunshine, with a mild high of thirty-eight. Sunrise is 7:27 AM and sunset 4:26 PM, for 9h 02m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 16.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1914, with war bringing death to Europe (and fated to bring much more), a Christmas truce:

The Christmas truce (German: Weihnachtsfrieden; French: Trêve de Noël) was a series of widespread but unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front around Christmas 1914. In the week leading up to the holiday, German and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. In areas, men from both sides ventured into no man’s land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs. There were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps, while several meetings ended in carol-singing. Men played games of football with one another, giving one of the most enduring images of the truce. However, the peaceful behaviour was not ubiquitous; fighting continued in some sectors, while in others the sides settled on little more than arrangements to recover bodies. The following year, a few units arranged ceasefires, but the truces were not nearly as widespread as in 1914; this was, in part, due to strongly worded orders from the high commands of both sides prohibiting fraternisation. Soldiers were no longer amenable to truce by 1916. The war had become increasingly bitter after devastating human losses suffered during the battles of the Somme and Verdun, and the incorporation of poison gas.

The truces were not unique to the Christmas period, and reflected a growing mood of “live and let live”, where infantry in close proximity would stop overtly aggressive behaviour, and often engage in small-scale fraternisation, engaging in conversation or bartering for cigarettes. In some sectors, there would be occasional ceasefires to allow soldiers to go between the lines and recover wounded or dead comrades, while in others, there would be a tacit agreement not to shoot while men rested, exercised, or worked in full view of the enemy. The Christmas truces were particularly significant due to the number of men involved and the level of their participation – even in very peaceful sectors, dozens of men openly congregating in daylight was remarkable – and are often seen as a symbolic moment of peace and humanity amidst one of the most violent events of human history.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Christmas Eve in Whitewater will be mild, with a high of thirty-seven, and a one-in-three chance of evening snow showers. Sunrise is 7:23 AM and sunset 4:25 PM, for 9h 02m 07s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 8.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1814, American and British diplomats sign a peace treaty, later to be ratified by both nations’ governments, to end the War of 1812:

….With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, the British used a defensive strategy in the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, repelling initial American invasions. This demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. However, the Americans gained control of Lake Erie in 1813, seized parts of western Ontario, and ended the prospect of an Indian confederacy and an independent Indian state in the Midwest under British sponsorship. In April, 1814, with the defeat of Napoleon, the British adopted a more aggressive strategy, sending larger invasion armies. In September 1814, the British invaded and occupied eastern Maine. In the south-west, General Andrew Jackson destroyed the military strength of the Creek nation at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 allowed them to capture and burn Washington, D.C, but they were repulsed in an attempt to take Baltimore. American victories in September 1814 at the Battle of Plattsburgh repulsed the British invasions of New York, which along with pressure from merchants on the British government prompted British diplomats to drop their demands at Ghent for an independent native buffer state and territorial claims that London previously sought. Both sides agreed to a peace that restored the situation before the war began. However, it took six weeks for ships to cross the Atlantic so news of the peace treaty did not arrive before the British suffered a major defeat at New Orleans in January 1815.[4]

In the United States, late victories over invading British armies at the battles of Plattsburg, Baltimore (inspiring their national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”) and New Orleans produced a sense of euphoria over a “second war of independence” against Britain.[5] The Federalist Party had strongly opposed the war effort and prevented New England from providing much in the way of soldiers and troops; it now virtually collapsed. The war ended on a high note for Americans, bringing an “Era of Good Feelings” in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened U.S. nationalism. Spain played a small role; some Spanish forces fought alongside the British during the Occupation of Pensacola. The U.S. took permanent ownership of Spain’s Mobile District….

On this day in 1857, Wisconsin graduates her first high schoolers:

1857 – First Wisconsin High School Graduates
On this date the first graduating high school class in the State of Wisconsin consisted of ten scholars graduating from Racine High School. [Source: Racine History Timeline]

Google-a-Day asks a question about geography:

Silphion, a spice which became known after the foundation of Kyrene in the 7th century, has its origin on what continent?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday in the Whippet City will be mild, with a high of forty-four, and only a one-in-ten chance of rain. Sunrise is 7:23 AM and sunset 4:25 PM, for 9h 01m 53s of daytime. That’s nine seconds more daylight than yesterday – winter has just begun, but the days are already getting longer. The moon is a waxing crescent with just 3.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1783, having successfully won the independence of his country from the greatest military power in all the world, Gen. Washington resigns his commission:

ADDRESS TO CONGRESS ON RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION

[Annapolis, December 23, 1783.]

Mr. President: The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place; I have now the honor of offering my sincere Congratulations to Congress and of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the Service of my Country.

Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence. A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our Cause, the support of the supreme Power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.

The Successful termination of the War has verified the most sanguine expectations, and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my Countrymen, encreases with every review of the momentous Contest.

While I repeat my obligations to the Army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge in this place the peculiar Services and distinguished merits of the Gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the War. It was impossible the choice of confidential Officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me Sir, to recommend in particular those, who have continued in Service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of Congress.

I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commending the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping.

Having now finished the work assigned to me, I retire form the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.68

Taken from The Writings of George Washington John C. Fitzpatrick, Editor (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1938), Volume 27, pp. 284-285.

Google-a-Day asks a question about racing:

What 2009 Formula One race, in the nation that invented motor racing, was canceled due to a financial crisis?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Monday will be cloudy in town, with rain in the afternoon, and a high of thirty-eight. Sunrise is 7:23 AM and sunset 4:24 PM, for 9h 01m 44s of daytime. We have a new moon, with less than one percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1864, Gen. Sherman gives Pres. Lincoln a Christmas gift:

Savannah, Ga., Dec. 22.

To His Excellency, President Lincoln:

I beg to present you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.

(Signed.) W. T. Sherman, Major-General

Steamer Golden Gate,

Savannah River, 7 P.M., Thursday, Dec. 22.

To Lieutenant-General Grant and Major-General H. W. Halleck:

I have the honor to report that I have just returned from General Sherman’s headquarters in Savannah.

I send Major Gray of my staff as bearer of dispatches from General Sherman to you, and also a message to the President.

The city of Savannah was occupied on the morning of the 21st. Gen. Hardee, anticipating the contemplated assault, escaped with the main body of his infantry and light artillery, on the morning of the 20th, by crossing the river to Union Causeway, opposite the city. The rebel iron- clads were blown up, and the Navy-yard was burned. All the rest of the city is intact, and contains twenty thousand citizens, quiet and well-disposed.

The captures includes eight hundred prisoners, one hundred and fifty guns, thirteen locomotives in good order, one hundred and ninety cars, a large supply of ammunition and materials of war, three steamers and thirty-three thousand bales of cotton safely stowed in warehouses.

All these valuable fruits of an almost bloodless victory have been, like Atlanta, fairly won.

I opened communication with the city with my steamers to-day, taking up what torpedoes we could see, and passing safely over others. Arrangements are made to clear the channel of all obstructions. Yours, & c.,

(Signed.) J. G. Foster, Major-General.

Google-a-Day asks a question about pop culture:

Rihanna got a tattoo across her fingers while wearing a piece of clothing with the face of what rock star?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of thirty-seven. Sunrise is 7:22 AM and sunset 4:24 PM, for 9h 01m 40s of daytime. It’s a new moon today.

On the latest FW poll, about eggnog, 76.19% of respondents said yes to that holiday drink. That’s up from the 2013 FW eggnog poll, where 65.63% of respondents said that they’d go for eggnog. (My view has changed, too: in 2013 I voted against eggnog, but this year I went went for it in small amounts.)

On this day in 1968, America launches the first human expedition to the moon, for a trip around (but not to the surface) of Earth’s only natural satellite:

Apollo 8, the second human spaceflight mission in the United States Apollo space program, was launched on December 21, 1968, and became the first manned spacecraft to leave Earth orbit, reach the Earth’s Moon, orbit it and return safely to Earth. The three-astronaut crew — Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders — became the first humans to travel beyond low Earth orbit, the first to see Earth as a whole planet, the first to directly see the far side of the Moon, and then the first to witness Earthrise. The 1968 mission, the third flight of the Saturn V rocket and that rocket’s first manned launch, was also the first human spaceflight launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, located adjacent to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The mission was originally planned as Apollo 9, to be performed in early 1969 as the second test of the complete Apollo spacecraft, including the Lunar Module and the Command/Service Module in an elliptical medium Earth orbit. But when the Lunar Module proved unready to make its first test in a lower Earth orbit in December 1968, it was decided in August to fly Apollo 8 in December as a more ambitious lunar orbital flight without the Lunar Module. This meant Borman’s crew was scheduled to fly two to three months sooner than originally planned, leaving them a shorter time for training and preparation, thus placing more demands than usual on their time and discipline.

Apollo 8 took three days to travel to the Moon. It orbited ten times over the course of 20 hours, during which the crew made a Christmas Eve television broadcast where they read the first 10 verses from the Book of Genesis. At the time, the broadcast was the most watched TV program ever. Apollo 8’s successful mission paved the way for Apollo 11 to fulfill U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s. The Apollo 8 astronauts returned to Earth on December 27, 1968, when their spacecraft splashed down in the Northern Pacific Ocean. The crew was named Time magazine’s “Men of the Year” for 1968 upon their return.

On this day in 1862, Wisconsinites head for Vicksburg to support the Union campaign against that city:

1862 – (Civil War) The 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry sets out for Vicksburg
The 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry participated in Grierson’s Raid on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in Tennessee. This was the first engagement in a movement by Union Col. Benjamin Grierson. It led 3,500 men on a 450-mile ride from Tennessee through Mississippi, arriving in Vicksburg on January 5, 1863.