Good morning.
Tuesday in the Whippet City will be sunny with a high of seventy-three.
Tonight, as part of a years-long series, there will be a joint Common Council-Planning Commission meeting to discuss the Zoning Re-write Project, beginning at 5:30 PM. One can expect all the fuss in the world over this, from more than one politically unreconstructed resident, as though there never was and never will be a greater issue for Whitewater than this. (More on this topic later.)
On this day in 1871, the Chicago Fire begins:
…flames spark in the Chicago barn of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary, igniting a two-day blaze that kills between 200 and 300 people, destroys 17,450 buildings, leaves 100,000 homeless and causes an estimated $200 million (in 1871 dollars; $3 billion in 2007 dollars) in damages. Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in the O’Leary barn and started the fire, but other theories hold that humans or even a comet may have been responsible for the event that left four square miles of the Windy City, including its business district, in ruins. Dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets and sidewalks made Chicago vulnerable to fire. The city averaged two fires per day in 1870; there were 20 fires throughout Chicago the week before the Great Fire of 1871….
At the same time, in Wisconsin, a fire also strikes, and causes greater loss of life:
1871 – Peshtigo Fire
On this date Peshtigo, Wisconsin was devastated by a fire which took 1,200 lives. The fire caused over $2 million in damages and destroyed 1.25 million acres of forest. This was the greatest human loss due to fire in the history of the United States. The Peshtigo Fire was overshadowed by the Great Chicago fire which occurred on the same day, killing 250 people and lasting three days. While the Chicago fire is said to have started by a cow kicking over a lantern, it is uncertain how the Peshtigo fire began. [Source: Wisconsin Electronic Reader]
Scientific American‘s daily trivia question asks about basketballs. (Clicking on the question leads to its answer.)