Good morning, Whitewater.
We’ve a bit of snow on the ground this morning, but that should hardly surprise: we’re an upper-Midwest state, this is January, and one should expect that precipitation during this time of year falls as snow. Tribes lived in this area for eons, with less-developed shelters, yet with winter weather like ours.
We’ll have a few snow showers today, with a high temperature of thirty-three. Sunrise is 7:25 AM and sunset 4:33 PM, for 9h 08m 20s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 97.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1959, America gets her 49th state:
Washington, Jan. 3 — Alaska became a state today.
By the clock on the mantel in the Cabinet Room at the White House, it was two minutes past noon. In Juneau, capital of the forty-ninth state, it was 9:02 A.M., Pacific Standard Time.
President Eisenhower signed the document of proclamation at the long table at which he meets his Cabinet. He used six pens to inscribe his name and the date. Then he took another handful of pens from the drawer in front of him and signed an Executive order setting a new design of forty-nine stars for the official flag of the United States.
On this day in 1950, a foul smell emanates from a public utility’s latest plan (as it so often does with these sorts of plans):
1950 – Conversion to Natural Gas Stinks
On this date Wisconsin Power & Light customers in Edgerton, Milton and Milton Junction were converted from manufactured gas to natural gas for heating and cooking. The conversion coincided with an ongoing change in Janesville and Beloit. The conversions were not without temporary drawbacks. The stench of skunk oil was added to the otherwise odorless natural gas so utility workers could more easily detect leaks. [Source: Janesville Gazette]