Good morning, Whitewater.
Thursday in town will bring a likelihood of thundershowers and a high of seventy-four. Sunrise is 6:59 AM and sunset is 6:25 PM, for 11h 26m 28s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 24.7% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM, and there is a scheduled Fire Department Business Meeting at 7 PM.
On this day in 1927, The Jazz Singer has its premiere in New York City:
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized sound, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the “talkies” and the decline of the silent film era. Directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphonesound-on-disc system, the film, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson, is based on a play of the same name by Samson Raphaelson, adapted from one of his short stories “The Day of Atonement”.
The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a beer garden he is punished by his father, a cantor, prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer. He attempts to build a career as an entertainer but his professional ambitions ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and heritage.
Darryl F. Zanuck won the Special Academy Award for producing the film, and it was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Engineering Effects. In 1996, The Jazz Singer was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” motion pictures. In 1998, the film was chosen in voting conducted by the American Film Institute as one of the best American films of all time, ranking at number ninety.
On this day in 1917, Fighting Bob defends free speech:
On this date Senator Robert La Follette gave what may have been the most famous speech of his Senate career when he responded to charges of treason with a three hour defense of free speech in wartime. La Follette had voted against a declaration of war as well as several iniatives seen as essential to the war effort by those that supported U.S. involvement in the first World War. His resistance was met with a petition to the Committee on Privileges and Elections that called for La Follette’s expulsion from the Senate. The charges were investigated, but La Follette was cleared of any wrong doing by the committee on January 16, 1919. [Source: United States Senate]
JigZone‘s puzzle of the day for Thursday is of a hammock: