Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of thirty-one.

On this day in 1900, fanatical temperance warrior Carrie (also spelled Carry) Nation goes to town on a bar:

Prohibitionist Carry Nation smashes up the bar at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas, causing several thousand dollars in damage and landing in jail. Nation, who was released shortly after the incident, became famous for carrying a hatchet and wrecking saloons as part of her anti-alcohol crusade….

Nation died in 1911, never living to see nationwide prohibition in America, which was established with the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and went into effect on January 16, 1920. Prohibition, considered a failure, was repealed on December 5, 1933, by the 21st Amendment.

On 12.27.1831, a future governor is born:

1831 – Lucius Fairchild Born
On this date Lucius Fairchild was born in Kent, Ohio. Soldier, diplomat, and Wisconsin Governor, Fairchild arrived in Madison with his family in 1846. After a trip to California in search of gold, Fairchild returned to Madison and studied law. He was a soldier in the “Iron Brigade” and lost an arm at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. He was elected as a Republican to the post of secretary of state and in 1865 was elected governor. He served for three terms. As governor and as a private citizen, Fairchild was active in promoting soldiers’ aid. [Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin History]

Good morning.

Thursday brings a high of twenty-three, with a likelihood of about half an inch of snow. Sunrise is 7:25 AM and sunset 4:27 PM. The moon is a waning crescent with 38% of its visible disk illuminated.

Dictator and mass murderer Mao Tse-tsung is born on this day in 1893.

Also on this day, in 1776, a far better man wins a surprise victory in Trenton:

At approximately 8 a.m. on the morning of December 26, 1776, General George Washington’s Continental Army reaches the outskirts of Trenton, New Jersey, and descends upon the unsuspecting Hessian force guarding the city. Trenton’s 1,400 Hessian defenders were still groggy from the previous evening’s Christmas festivities and had underestimated the Patriot threat after months of decisive British victories throughout New York. The troops of the Continental Army quickly overwhelmed the German defenses, and by 9:30 a.m.Trenton was completely surrounded.

Although several hundred Hessians escaped, nearly 1,000 were captured at the cost of only four American lives.

Over these last few days, astronauts at the International Space Station undertook repairs to a cooling system on the station. They had quite a view of the outdoors:

Good morning.

Christmas Eve will be increasingly cloudy, with a high of fifteen, and wind chill values of zero to fifteen below. We’ll have a likelihood of one to two inches of snow later tonight.

There’s a dog in Wellesley, Massachusetts who’ll have a happy Christmas after all:

On this day in 1814, a war two years long ends:

1814 – War of 1812 Ends
On this date the Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the the War of 1812 which was fought between the United States and Great Britain from June 1812 to the spring of 1815 (news of the treaty took several months to reach the frontiers of No. America). The treaty provided for the cessation of hostilities, the restoration of conquests, and a commission to settle boundary disputes. John Quincy Adams served as the chief negotiator for the United States.

The treaty formalized U.S. possession of land which included present-day Wisconsin. [Source: The Avalon Project at Yale Law School]

Good morning.

Monday will be a day of snow showers, with the temperatures falling to nine degrees by 5 PM.

On this day in 1783, Gen. Washington resigns as commander of the American military:

“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.”

On 12.23.1865, a different war having been won, Wisconsinites come home:

1865 – (Civil War) The 13th Wisconsin Infantry returns home
The 13th Wisconsin Infantry returned home to Madison to be discharged. During its service it had moved through Missouri, Kentucky, Alabama, and Tennessee. The regiment lost 193 men during service. Five enlisted men were killed and 188 enlisted men died from disease.

Good morning.

It’s a snowy Sunday for Whitewater, with a daytime accumulation of about four inches, for a total of about eight inches, and a daytime high of twenty-eight.

There are, snowfall notwithstanding, effective and safe ways to get around.

On this day in 1864, General Sherman gave Pres. Lincoln an early Christmas gift: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.” The gift came unwrapped, but with the greater benefit that it brought the war closer to a victorious end.

On 12.22.1862, a future governor is born:

1862 – Wisconsin Governor Walter Goodland Born
On this date Governor Goodland was born. Goodland had a long and successfull career editing and publishing various newspapers in Michigan and Wisconsin, including the Racine Times. Newspaper reporters dubbed him “Woof-Woof” due to his deep, rumbling voice. Twice widowed, Goodland eventually married his secretary, Madge Roche Risney Goodland (also widowed). After retiring from the newspaper business, Goodland decided to run for lieutenant governor under Progressive Orland Loomis.

Loomis died before inauguration, giving the office to Goodland. Goodland, a Republican, proceeded to win the governorship in 1944 and 1946. He died in the old executive residence on March 12, 1947 at the age of 84, being the oldest governor in office in any state. [Source: First Ladies of Wisconsin, The Governors’ Wives by Nancy G. Williams]

Good morning.

We will have a thirty-percent chance of afternoon snow, but a near-certainty of evening snow, with an accumulation of three to five inches. The high for today will be thirty degrees.

Sunrise today is 7:23 AM and sunset 4:24 PM. The moon is a waning gibbous with 84% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1879, dictator and mass murderer Joseph Stalin (Vissarionovich Djugashvili) is born. He died in 1953.

On this day in 1862, Wisconsinites drive on:

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.

Good morning.

Friday will bring periods of freezing rain and a high of thirty.

School’s canceled – play responsibly.

Earlier this month, at Lake Superior, they had a winter waterspout – a snownado (of which few have ever been photographed):

On this day in 1803, the French turn New Orleans over to America.

Puzzability‘s Christmas-song puzzle series wraps today:

This Week’s Game — December 16-20

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Hark, the puzzling angels sing. For each day this week, we started with a well-known lyric from a Christmas carol. Then, for the day’s clue, we broke it down into a series of words that, when said in order, sounds like the original lyric. You’ll probably need to say the words out loud to get the answers.

Example:

Easy, shoe, veinier, cell, he, pink

Answer:

He sees you when you’re sleeping (from “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”)

What to Submit:

Submit the lyric (as “He sees you when you’re sleeping” in the example) for your answer.

Friday, December 20

Mayor, tase, beam, hairy, antbear, height

Good morning.

There’s a forty-percent chance of freezing rain in the late afternoon, with a high for the day of thirty-one.

Whitewater’s Tech Park Board meets today at 9 AM.

On this day in 1776, Thomas Paine publishes the first portion of The American Crisis. The essays begin with one of Paine’s most memorable descriptions: ‘These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.’

Here’s the Thursday edition of Puzzability‘s Christmas-themed series:

This Week’s Game — December 16-20

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Hark, the puzzling angels sing. For each day this week, we started with a well-known lyric from a Christmas carol. Then, for the day’s clue, we broke it down into a series of words that, when said in order, sounds like the original lyric. You’ll probably need to say the words out loud to get the answers.

Example:

Easy, shoe, veinier, cell, he, pink

Answer:

He sees you when you’re sleeping (from “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”)

What to Submit:

Submit the lyric (as “He sees you when you’re sleeping” in the example) for your answer.

Thursday, December 19

Odor, vet, drought, ciders, fried, fill