Good morning, Whitewater.
Saturday in town will be cloudy but relatively mild, with a high temperature of thirty. Sunrise is 7:03 and sunset 5:14, for 10h 11m 47s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 5.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
On February 6, 1778, America and France make formal their alliance, with the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance.
On this day in 1917, a German submarine sinks the S.S. California:
Just three days after U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s speech of February 3, 1917 — in which he broke diplomatic relations with Germany and warned that war would follow if American interests at sea were again assaulted—a German submarine torpedoes and sinks the Anchor Line passenger steamer California off the Irish coast.
The SS California departed New York on January 29 bound for Glasgow, Scotland, with 205 passengers and crewmembers on board. Eight days later, some 38 miles off the coast of Fastnet Island, Ireland, the ship’s captain, John Henderson, spotted a submarine off his ship’s port side at a little after 9 a.m. and ordered the gunner at the stern of the ship to fire in defense if necessary. Moments later and without warning, the submarine fired two torpedoes at the ship. One of the torpedoes missed, but the second torpedo exploded into the port side of the steamer, killing five people instantly. The explosion of the torpedo was so violent and devastating that the 470-foot, 9,000-ton steamer sank just nine minutes after the attack. Despite desperate S.O.S. calls sent by the crew to ensure the arrival of rescue ships, 38 people drowned after the initial explosion, for a total of 43 dead.
On this day in 1967, activist Stokely Carmichael speaks at UW-Whitewater:
On this date nationally known activist Stokely Carmichael spoke at UW-Whitewater as part of a forum series entitled “Black Power and the Civil Rights Movement.” The chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee at Whitewater motivated students in attendance, stating that blacks must reclaim their identity and history, and organize to control local political offices, especially in large cities. [Source: Janesville Gazette]