FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread for 10.15.13

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be a rainy day with a high of sixty-three.

The Alcohol Licensing Review Committee meets at 5:30 PM, and Common Council at 6:30 PM this evening.

On this day in 1945, the Vichy leader and Nazi collaborator Pierre Laval meets his fate:

Hostile to the declaration of war against Germany in 1939, Laval encouraged the antiwar faction in the French government, and with the German invasion in 1940 he used his political influence to force an armistice with Germany. Henri Pétain took over the new Vichy state, and Laval served as minister of state. Laval was dismissed by PÉtain in December 1940 for negotiating privately with Germany.

By 1942, Laval had won the trust of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and the elderly Pétain became merely a figurehead in the Vichy regime. As the premier of Vichy France, Laval collaborated with the Nazi programs of oppression and genocide, and increasingly became a puppet of Hitler. After the Allied liberation of France, he was forced to flee east for German protection. With the defeat of Germany in May 1945, he escaped to Spain but was expelled and went into hiding in Austria, where he finally surrendered to American authorities in late July. Extradited to France, Laval was convicted of treason by the High Court of Justice in a sensational trial. Condemned to death, he attempted suicide by poison but was nursed back to health in time for his execution, on October 15, 1945.

On this day in 1885, thousands of Wisconsin workers go on strike:

1885 – Marinette-Menominee Lumbermen Strike
On this date 2,500 Marinette-Menominee lumbermen walked off the job to support a reduction in workday hours. Mill owners locked out the workers in an attempt to force acceptance of an eleven-hour workday. The lockout failed as many lumbermen simply moved away from the area rather than agree to work eleven hour days. The employers were forced to negotiate with unions and conceded to a ten-hour work day and cash payment for wages. To learn more about lumber and Wisconsin History, visit Turning Points.[Source: A Labor History Anthology, p.24]

Scientific American‘s daily trivia question asks about extraterrestrial sports. (Clicking on the question leads to its answer.)

What sport did astronaut Alan Shepard play on the moon?

Here’s a video link to Shepard playing that sport on the lunar surface.

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