Good morning, Whitewater.
Christmas Eve in Whitewater will be mild, with a high of thirty-seven, and a one-in-three chance of evening snow showers. Sunrise is 7:23 AM and sunset 4:25 PM, for 9h 02m 07s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 8.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1814, American and British diplomats sign a peace treaty, later to be ratified by both nations’ governments, to end the War of 1812:
….With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, the British used a defensive strategy in the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, repelling initial American invasions. This demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. However, the Americans gained control of Lake Erie in 1813, seized parts of western Ontario, and ended the prospect of an Indian confederacy and an independent Indian state in the Midwest under British sponsorship. In April, 1814, with the defeat of Napoleon, the British adopted a more aggressive strategy, sending larger invasion armies. In September 1814, the British invaded and occupied eastern Maine. In the south-west, General Andrew Jackson destroyed the military strength of the Creek nation at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 allowed them to capture and burn Washington, D.C, but they were repulsed in an attempt to take Baltimore. American victories in September 1814 at the Battle of Plattsburgh repulsed the British invasions of New York, which along with pressure from merchants on the British government prompted British diplomats to drop their demands at Ghent for an independent native buffer state and territorial claims that London previously sought. Both sides agreed to a peace that restored the situation before the war began. However, it took six weeks for ships to cross the Atlantic so news of the peace treaty did not arrive before the British suffered a major defeat at New Orleans in January 1815.[4]
In the United States, late victories over invading British armies at the battles of Plattsburg, Baltimore (inspiring their national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”) and New Orleans produced a sense of euphoria over a “second war of independence” against Britain.[5] The Federalist Party had strongly opposed the war effort and prevented New England from providing much in the way of soldiers and troops; it now virtually collapsed. The war ended on a high note for Americans, bringing an “Era of Good Feelings” in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened U.S. nationalism. Spain played a small role; some Spanish forces fought alongside the British during the Occupation of Pensacola. The U.S. took permanent ownership of Spain’s Mobile District….
On this day in 1857, Wisconsin graduates her first high schoolers:
1857 – First Wisconsin High School Graduates
On this date the first graduating high school class in the State of Wisconsin consisted of ten scholars graduating from Racine High School. [Source: Racine History Timeline]
Google-a-Day asks a question about geography:
Silphion, a spice which became known after the foundation of Kyrene in the 7th century, has its origin on what continent?