Good morning.
Our week begins with sunny skies and a high of nineteen. Sunrise today is 7:07 AM and sunset 5:11 PM.
The Super Bowl now over, those of us who thought that Denver would win can at least console ourselves that there’s no second-guessing to afflict us; the outcome wasn’t close enough to inspire alternative theories of the result.
On this day in 1865, Union and Confederate leaders discuss peace:
In January, Union troops captured Fort Fisher and effectively closed Wilmington, North Carolina, the last major port open to blockade runners. Davis conferred with his vice president, Alexander Stephens, who recommended that a peace commission be appointed to explore a possible armistice. Davis sent Stephens and two others to meet with Lincoln at Hampton Roads.
The meeting convened on February 3. Stephens asked if there was any way to stop the war and Lincoln replied that the only way was “for those who were resisting the laws of the Union to cease that resistance.” The delegation underestimated Lincoln’s resolve to make the end of slavery a necessary condition for any peace. The president also insisted on immediate reunification and the laying down of Confederate arms before anything else was discussed. In short, the Union was in such an advantageous position that Lincoln did not need to concede any issues to the Confederates. Robert M.T. Hunter, a member of the delegation, commented that Lincoln was offering little except the unconditional surrender of the South.
After less than five hours, the conference ended and the delegation left with no concessions. The war continued for more than two months.
This day in 1959 is the day the music died:
Bad winter weather and a bus breakdown prompted rock-and-roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper to rent a plane to continue on their “Winter Dance Party” tour. Icy roads and treacherous weather had nearly undermined their performances in Green Bay and Appleton that weekend, so after a show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2, 1959, they boarded a four-seat airplane. The three performers and pilot Roger Peterson perished when the plane crashed about 1:00 AM on Monday, February 3rd (“The Day the Music Died,” according to singer Don McLean in his song “American Pie”) . [Source: Mark Steuer; Wikipedia]
Puzzability‘s new game is about television show titles:
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This Week’s Game — February 3-7
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Horizontal Holds
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Everything is edited for television this week. For each day, we started with the title of a well-known TV series and replaced all the letters with asterisks, except for letters that spell out a word that’s a clue to the series title. (Those letters may appear elsewhere in the title as well.)
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Example:
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******, SH* **OT*
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Answer:
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Murder, She Wrote
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What to Submit:
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Submit the series title (as “Murder, She Wrote” in the example) for your answer.
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Monday, February 3
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