Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will bring a near-certainty of afternoon snow, with accumulations of about an inch. The high for today will be twenty-five. A second snowfall is likely overnight, again with an accumulation of about an inch.
On this day in 1941, America followed the attack on Pearl Harbor with a declaration of war.
What’s it like to live in state-capitalist, heavily-planned and dictatorially-managed China? One can see the air.
On December 8, 1917, a Wisconsin agricultural inventor passes away:
1917 – Inventor John F. Appleby Dies
On this date the inventor of the twine-binder, John F. Appleby died. Appleby was raised on a wheat farm in Wisconsin and searched for an easier way to harvest and bundle grains. His invention gathered severed spears into bundles and bound the sheaves with hempen twine. His invention, which was pulled by horses, was a great success. In 1878 William Deering, a farm machinery manufacturer secured the right to use Appleby’s patent and sold 3,000 twine harvesters in a single year. In 1882 the McCormicks (of the McCormick reapers) paid $35,000 for the privilege to manufacture Appleby’s invention. Appleby spent the rest of his life in his shop trying to create additional successful machinery. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes]