Good morning.

It’s an increasingly cloudy day with  a high temperature of thirty-nine ahead for Whitewater.  In Austin, TX, they’ll have a day of thunderstorms and a high temperature of sixty-eight.

The housing committee of Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets today at 4 PM.

Amazing, but true: a comet survives a close encounter with the sun.

Comet Lovejoy survived its encounter with the sun. The second clip shows the comet exiting from behind the right side of the sun, after an hour of travel through its closest approach to the sun. By tracking how the comet interacts with the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, and how material from the tail moves along the sun’s magnetic field lines, solar scientists hope to learn more about the corona. This movie was filmed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory in 171 Angstrom wavelength, which is typically shown in yellow.

Good morning.

It’s a sunny day for Whitewater, with a high temperature of thirty-two degrees.  In Lincoln Manor, Maryland, it’s a partly sunny day ahead, with a high temperature of forty-six.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1922,

….James Davidson died. He was born in Norway in 1854 and emigrated in 1872. He became a leading merchant in Soldiers Grove and served as village president, village treasurer, assemblyman, state treasurer, and lieutenant-governor before becoming governor of the state from 1906-1911. As governor, he introduced the law providing for bank examiners and promoted legislation giving the railroad commission jurisdiction over most public utilities. He is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

I had not heard of him, or his accomplishments, until I saw the entry on the Historical Society’s website.  It’s a reminder to me that most officials, no matter how accomplished in their time, will fade from popular memory.  Perhaps this is less true in a time of video recording, but I think it still – mostly – applies.  I’m sure, though, that it will not apply to Gov. Walker.  One way or another, he’s sure to be remembered.

Google’s puzzle for today asks an historical question, of a time long before Wisconsin’s history: “One of the earliest uses for glass bottles dates back to before 1000 B.C. What group of people is credited with the first use of glass for perfume bottles?”

Good morning.

It’s a windy day in store for Whitewater, with a high of forty-degrees, but falling temperatures later in the day.  In Naples, Florida, it will be mostly sunny and thirty-eight degrees warmer.

Looking for a sample from a comet? If you were, you might do what NASA is considering — using a six-foot crossbow to harpoon the comet:

1847 – Wisconsin’s Second Constitutional Convention Convenes in Madison
On this date the first draft of the Wisconsin Constitution was rejected in 1846. As a result, Wisconsin representatives met again to draft a new constitution in 1847. New delegates were invited, and only five delegates attended both conventions. The second convention used the failed 1846 constitution as a springboard for their own, but left out controversial issues such as banking and property rights for women that the first constitution attempted to address. The second constitution included a proposal to let the people of Wisconsin vote on a referendum designed to approve black suffrage. [Source: Attainment of Statehood by Milo M. Quaife]

Source: Wisconsin HIstorical Society.

Google’s puzzle for today asks an uncommon question about something well-known: “This famous copper-clad statue in New York Harbor is an early example of what type of construction?”