Good morning,
Today’s forecast for Whitewater calls for a day of patchy fog with a high temperature of eighty-one degrees.
Over at Wired, there’s a story about an American milestone, from 1859:
1859: Mail is carried by air for the first time in the United States.
On a hot summer day as the temperature soared toward 91 degrees, John Wise stood at the town square in Lafayette, Indiana, waiting next to a balloon named Jupiter. Even for a balloon enthusiast and a well-known aeronaut, it was a big moment.
Wise was set to carry what would be the first U.S. airmail. A postmaster had handed him a bag with 123 letters. Destination of the balloonist and his precious cargo: New York City.
Delivering letters by air had been attempted before. There had always been carrier pigeons. And in 1785, a balloon flight from Dover, England, to Calais, France, had carried mail.
Wise’s attempt was to be the big event for the United States. Wise, who was 51, was also hoping to set a record for the longest balloon flight. He took off at 2 p.m.
But the weather wasn’t on his side. He found that the wind was blowing southwest, not east. Still, he went up to 14,000 feet. But five hours — and just 30 miles later — Wise gave up and landed in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
The mail had gone partway by air, but was ignominiously put on a train to New York City to assure the swift completion of its appointed round.
The Lafayette Daily Courier mocked the flight as “trans-county-nental.”
This Friday, August 20th, the Friday Comment Forum will feature a cinematic topic: “Your 10 Favorite Films of All Time.” Picking just ten isn’t easy, but it’s a fun challenge….