Good morning.

Christmas in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 36. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:26, for 9 hours, 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 26.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1968,  Apollo 8 performs the first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.

Midnight Christmas Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris:

Owl surprises Virginia family by perching atop Christmas tree:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 30. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:24, for 9 hours, 1 minute of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 52.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1864, Savannah, Georgia, falls to the Union’s Army of the Tennessee, and General Sherman tells President Lincoln: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah”

Christmas displays around the world:

In the aftermath of war, a Christmas tree stands amid the rubble of a Lebanese church:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 43. Sunrise is 7:19 and sunset is 4:21, for 9 hours, 3 minutes of daytime. The moon is full with 99.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1864,  the Battle of Nashville begins at Nashville, Tennessee, and ends the following day with the destruction of the Confederate Army of Tennessee as a fighting force by the Union Army of the Cumberland.

World’s Most Unusual Christmas Traditions:

Kevin the Chihuahua manages the trash in his house:

Good morning.

Thanksgiving in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 30. Sunrise is 7:03, and sunset is 4:22, for 9 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 6.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1895, the first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago’s Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours:

The day was snowy and 38 °F (4 °C), the roads muddy, with snow drifts in places.

The first car to arrive at the starting line was a German-made car by inventor Karl Benz. In total, three Benz cars ran in the race. The only other four-wheeled car to run in the race was Frank Duryea‘s motorized wagon. The two other vehicles that took part were two-wheeled automobiles. The “motorcycles” lacked the power to climb one of the course’s grades. Another entrant was electric-powered, whose battery died from the cold weather before getting far. Just after starting, one Benz struck a horse and was forced to leave the race. On the return trip from Evanston, the Duryea began to take the lead.^{[citation needed]}

The Duryea car finished the race first, completing the race after 7 hours and 53 minutes of running time, 10 hours and 23 minutes total time, having traveled an average of 7 mph (11 km/h). The Benz entered by Oscar B. Mueller crossed the finish line an hour and a half later. From point 31 of the course to the finish Mueller’s car was driven by Charles Brady King because Mueller went unconscious from exposure. King was originally an umpire to the race and of this motorcycle. None of the other vehicles finished.

What’s the Secret to a Perfect Thanksgiving?:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will see morning thundershowers with a high of 88. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset 8:35 for 15h 20m 00s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 71.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Soothing to be writing as the rain bathes the city only inches from one’s porch.

A quick note: FREE WHITEWATER will begin a series tomorrow, as a serialized draft, on the long fight for good governance in our small and beautiful city. On days with installments, those posts within the series will appear at the top of that day’s posts, and with titles in a different type font from other posts. No title for the series quite yet, other than ‘A Serialized Draft.’ A proper title and other touches will come much later, when the series is compiled into a different, final form.

On this day in 1858, Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois. See Lincoln’s full speech, delivered at the Illinois Republican State Convention, Springfield, Illinois June 16, 1858.

Watch as arena transforms to hold Olympic swimming pool: