Good morning.
There’s a probability of snow this morning, of about a half an inch in accumulation, and afterward a mostly sunny day with a high of twenty seven.
On February 21, 1885, the Washington Monument is dedicated:
The 555-foot-high marble obelisk was first proposed in 1783, and Pierre L’Enfant left room for it in his designs for the new U.S. capital. After George Washington’s death in 1799, plans for a memorial for the “father of the country” were discussed, but none were adopted until 1832–the centennial of Washington’s birth. Architect Robert Mills’ hollow Egyptian obelisk design was accepted for the monument, and on July 4, 1848, the cornerstone was laid. Work on the project was interrupted by political quarreling in the 1850s, and construction ceased entirely during the American Civil War. Finally, in 1876, Congress, inspired by the American centennial, passed legislation appropriating $200,000 for completion of the monument.
In February 1885, the Washington Monument was formally dedicated, and three years later it was opened to the public, who were permitted to climb to the top of the monument by stairs or elevator. The monument was the tallest structure in the world when completed and remains today, by District of Columbia law, the tallest building in the nation’s capital.
On this day in 1918, a move to denounce dissent fails in the Wisconsin Assembly:
1918 – Denunciation of LaFollette rejected by Assembly
On this day, a move to denounce Sen. Robert LaFollette and the nine Wisconsin congressmen who refused to support World War I failed in the State Assembly, by a vote of 76-15. Calling LaFollette “disloyal,” the amendment’s originator, Democrat John F. Donnelly, insisted that LaFollette’s position did not reflect “the sentiment of the people of Wisconsin. We should not lack the courage to condemn his actions.” Reflecting the majority opinion, Assemblyman Charles F. Hart retorted that “The Wisconsin State Legislature went on record by passing a resolution telling the President that the people of this state did not want war. Now we are condemning them for doing that which we asked them to do.” [Source: Capital Times 2/21/1918, p.1]
Puzzability‘s series on the Olympics, Cities of Gold, concludes today with Friday’s game:
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This Week’s Game — February 17-21
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Cities of Gold
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Here’s our inside track at the Olympics. For each day this week, we started with the name of a city in which the Winter Olympics have been held. Then we hid it in a sentence, with spaces added as necessary. The answer spans at least two words in the sentence and starts and ends in the middle of words. The day’s clue gives the sentence with a torch in place of the city name.
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Example:
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I didn’t qualify for the luge finals after my qualifying time was to
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Answer:
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Oslo (too slow)
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What to Submit:
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Submit the city (as “Oslo” in the example) for your answer.
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Friday, February 21
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