Good morning, Whitewater.
We have a partly sunny and cold Sunday before us, with a high of ten degrees. Sunrise is 6:50 and sunset 5:26, for 10h 36m 09s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 16.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
Friday’s FW poll asked if readers had a worry over Friday the 13th. Respondents said that they didn’t, with 81.82% saying that date caused no particular concern.
USS Maine entering Havana Harbor on 25 January 1898, where the ship would explode three weeks later. On the right is the old Morro Castle fortress
Wreckage of USS Maine, 1898. Via Wikipedia.
On this day in 1898, the U.S.S. Maine, visiting Havana harbor, exploded, killing two-hundred sixty sailors. The New York Times reported the loss:
Havana, Feb. 15 — At 9:45 o’clock this evening a terrible explosion took place on board the United States battleship Maine in Havana Harbor.
Many persons were killed or wounded. All the boats of the Spanish cruiser Alfonso XII. are assisting.
As yet the cause of the explosion is not apparent. The wounded sailors of the Maine are unable to explain it. It is believed that the battleship is totally destroyed.
The explosion shook the whole city. The windows were broken in nearly all the houses.
The correspondent of the Associated Press says he has conversed with several of the wounded sailors and understands from them that the explosion took place while they were asleep, so that they can give no particulars as to the cause….