Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:25 AM and sunset 8:35 PM for 15h 09m 57s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 66.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1850, James Jesse Strang, leader of an estranged Mormon faction, the Strangites, was crowned king (the only man to achieve such a title in America):
When founder Joseph Smith was assassinated, Strang forged a letter from Smith dictating he was to be the heir. The Mormon movement split into followers of Strang and followers of Brigham Young. As he gained more followers (but never nearly as many as Brigham Young), Strang became comparable to a Saint, and in 1850 was crowned King James in a ceremony in which he wore a discarded red robe of a Shakespearean actor, and a metal crown studded with a cluster of stars as his followers sang him hosannas. Soon after his crowning, he announced that Mormonism embraced and supported polygamy. (Young’s faction was known to have practiced polygamy, but had not at this time announced it publicly.) A number of followers lived in Walworth County, including Strang at a home in Burlington. In 1856 Strang was himself assassinated, leaving five wives. Without Strang’s leadership, his movement disintegrated.
Giant Land Snails Are Invading Florida:
Crowds flock to see Yosemite’s waterfalls gush from historic snowmelt: