Good morning.
Late December in Whitewater: Mostly cloudy in the thirties. In San Francisco: Mostly cloudy, but sixty-one. There’s a funny quote attributed to Mark Twain about San Francisco’s weather (“The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco”), but sixty-one at any time is mild when considered from Wisconsin.
On this date in 1981, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American ‘test-tube’ baby, was born in Norfolk, Va.
Today’s puzzle from Google comes via the suggestion of Zacary Saliba, aged nine, and it’s one of the best Google’s yet offered: “What is the largest air-breathing fish found in the body of water that ends at 0°10’0” S 49°0’0” W?”
The Wisconsin Historical Society offers evidence that, sure enough, Joseph McCarthy was a liar and skunk his whole life:
On this date [12.28] future senator Joseph McCarthy announced his candidacy for the Wisconsin 10th Circuit Court judgeship, a position that had been held for 24 years by Edgar V. Werner. The 30-year-old McCarthy used Werner’s age against him, claiming that Werner was 73 while secretly knowing he was 66. In the election, held in April of the following year, McCarthy earned 15,160 votes to Werner’s 11,154. Although McCarthy’s campaign tactics and spending practices were investigated, he was cleared of wrong-doing. [Source: Legal Affairs]