Good morning, Whitewater.
Thursday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of sixty-nine. Sunrise is 5:25 and sunset 8:17, for 14h 51m 26s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 12.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM (for an appreciation dinner) and the city’s Police & Fire Commission at 6:30 PM.
The Spirit at the National Air and Space Museum. Via Wikipedia.
On this day in 1927, Charles Lindbergh completes a solo flight across the Atlantic:
Six well-known aviators had already lost their lives in pursuit of the Orteig Prize [to be awarded to the pilot of the first successful nonstop flight made in either direction between New York City and Paris] when Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on his successful attempt in the early morning of Friday, May 20, 1927. Burdened by its heavy load of 450 U.S. gallons (1,704 liters) of gasoline weighing about 2,710 lb (1,230 kg), and hampered by a muddy, rain-soaked runway, Lindbergh’sWright Whirlwind-powered monoplane gained speed very slowly as it made its 7:52 am (07:52) takeoff run, but its J-5C radial engine still proved powerful enough to allow the Spirit to clear the telephone lines at the far end of the field “by about twenty feet [six meters] with a fair reserve of flying speed”.[52] Over the next 33.5 hours, he and the Spirit—which Lindbergh always jointly referred to as “WE”—faced many challenges, including skimming over both storm clouds at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) and wave tops at as low at 10 ft (3.0 m), fighting icing, flying blind through fog for several hours, and navigating only by the stars (whenever visible), and dead reckoning before landing at Le Bourget Airport at 10:22 pm (22:22) on Saturday, May 21.[53] The airfield was not marked on his map and Lindbergh knew only that it was some seven miles northeast of the city. He initially mistook the airfield for some large industrial complex with bright lights spreading out in all directions. The lights were, in fact, the headlights of tens of thousands of cars all driven by eager spectators now caught in “the largest traffic jam in Parisian history.”[54]
A crowd estimated at 150,000 spectators stormed the field, dragged Lindbergh out of the cockpit, and literally carried him around above their heads for “nearly half an hour”. While some damage was done to the Spirit (especially to the fine linen, silver-painted fabric covering on the fuselage) by souvenir hunters, both Lindbergh and the Spirit were eventually “rescued” from the mob by a group of French military fliers, soldiers, and police, who took them both to safety in a nearby hangar.[55] From that moment on, life would never again be the same for the previously little-known former U.S. Air Mail pilot who, by his successful flight, had achieved virtually instantaneous—and lifelong—world fame.[56]
Today is also the day that a record for a paper airplane is set, in Wisconsin:
1985 – Distance Record Set for Paper Airplane
On this date Tony Feltch of Wisconsin set the world record for longest distance flown by a paper airplane. Feltch’s airplane, launched at the La Crosse Center, flew 193 feet. [Source: Paper Aircraft Association]
Here’s the Thursday game in Puzzability‘s Prhymetime series:
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This Week’s Game — May 18-22
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Prhymetime
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For your viewing pleasure this week, we’re airing a series series every day. Each day’s clues lead to a series of answer words that, in order, rhyme with the title of an Emmy-winning TV series (comedy or drama).
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Example:
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Pretending to be sick; tartan pattern
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Answer:
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Breaking Bad (faking; plaid)
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What to Submit:
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Submit the series title and the rhyming words (as “Breaking Bad (faking; plaid)” in the example) for your answer.
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Thursday, May 21
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