Good morning, Whitewater.
Friday in Whitewater looks to be mostly sunny, with a high of seventy-seven, and south winds of five to ten mph.
On this day in the year 64, Rome burns:
The Great Fire of Rome was an urban fire that started on the night between 18 and 19 July in the year 64 AD. It caused widespread devastation before being brought under control after six days. Differing accounts either blame Emperor Nero for initiating the fire or credit him with organizing measures to contain it and provide relief for refugees.[1]….
Tacitus describes the fire as beginning in shops where inflammable goods were stored, in the region of the Circus neighboring the Caelian and Palatine hills of Rome. The night was a windy one and the flames rapidly spread along the full length of the Circus. The fire expanded through an area of narrow, twisting streets and closely located apartment blocks. In this lower area of Rome there were no large buildings such as temples, or open areas of ground, to impede the conflagration. It then spread along the Palatine and Caelian slopes.
The population fled first to areas unaffected by the fire and then to the open fields and rural roads outside the city. Looters and arsonists were reported to have spread the flames by throwing torches or, acting in groups, to have hindered measures being made to halt or slow the progress of the flames. Tacitus surmises that some may have acted under orders or that they may simply have wanted to plunder unhindered.
Google-a-Day asks a science question:
The private papers of what scientist had to be decontaminated for two years in the 1990’s before being put on file at the National Library in Paris?