Good morning.
It’s a partly sunny election day for Whitewater, with a slight chance of afternoon showers, and a high of sixty-six.
The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls today as an important election day in our history:
1866 – African-Americans Vote in Wisconsin
On this date African-Americans voted for the first time in Wisconsin, after Ezekiel Gillespie successfully sued for the right to vote, an important point in the mid-19th century struggle of Milwaukee black citizens for suffrage. [Source: History of Wisconsin, Vol. II, pg. 571]
At ScienceNews.org, Susan Gaidos writes about recent studies that suggest even animals benefit from having friends:
Scientists have long known that animals form bonds. Primates and horses that spend more time in close proximity will generally be friendlier and less aggressive with each other. Chimps and elephants share food, comfort the injured and appear to grieve at the deaths of peers.
Still, for decades the prevailing view was that most interactions occur between closely related individuals. Bonds formed between unrelated animals were supposedly only transient, designed to gain some immediate benefit. Scientists now know that isn’t true. Studies of dolphins, horses, lions and chimpanzees show that even unrelated animals often form stable bonds lasting for years. And evidence indicates that one animal may do something costly to help a nonrelative, while receiving a benefit later.
Animals’ lives are more intricate than we might have thought, it seems.
Google’s daily puzzle mixes geography and demographics: “Which continent has the most French speakers in the world?”