Good morning, Whitewater.

Midweek in Whitewater will be rainy, with possible thundershowers, and with a daytime high of forty-eight.  Sunrise is 7:23 AM and sunset 5:54 PM, for 10h 30m 55s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 16% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Tech Park Board meets at 8 AM, and the Community Development Board at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1881, the most famous gunfight in the Old West takes place in Tombstone, Arizona Territory:

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a 30-second shootout between lawmen and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. It is generally regarded as the most famous shootout in the history of the American Wild West. The gunfight was the result of a long-simmering feud, with Cowboys Billy Claiborne, Ikeand Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury on one side and town Marshal Virgil Earp, Special Policeman Morgan Earp, Special Policeman Wyatt Earp and temporary policeman Doc Holliday on the other side. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys, who were upset by the Earps’ interference in their illegal activities. Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed. Ike Clanton claimed he was unarmed and ran from the fight, along with Billy Claiborne. Virgil, Morgan, and Doc Holliday were wounded, but Wyatt Earp was unharmed. The shootout has come to represent a period of the American Old West when the frontier was virtually an open range for outlaws, largely unopposed by law enforcement officers, who were spread thin over vast territories.

The gunfight was not well-known to the American public until 1931, when Stuart Lake published an initially well-received biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, two years after Earp’s death.^[1] The book was the basis for the 1946 film My Darling Clementine, directed by John Ford,^[1] and the 1957 film Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, after which the shootout became known by that name. Since then, the conflict has been portrayed with varying degrees of accuracy in numerous Western films and books, and has become an archetype for much of the popular imagery associated with the Old West.

On this day in 1818, Wisconsin receives her first counties:

1818 – First Counties in Wisconsin Declared

On this date Lewis Cass, governor of the Michigan Territory, declared the first counties in Wisconsin. The counties included Michilimackinac (all areas drained by Lake Superior tributaries), Brown, and Crawford counties, which were separated through Portage. Michilimackinac County is now part of the state of Michigan. Governor Cass later became the Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, as well as the Minister to France and a Michigan Senator. Cass, a Democrat, also ran for president in 1848, but lost to Whig Zachary Taylor due to factions within the Democratic Party and the formation of the Free Soil Party. [Source: Historic Elmwood Cemetery and Foundation]

JigZone’s dailly puzzle for Wednesday is of tennis balls:

Good  morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday in town will be cloudy with a high of fifty-four.  Sunrise is 7:21 AM and sunset is 5:55 PM, for 10h 33m 34s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 23.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

Common Council meets this evening at 6:30 PM, and the Fire Department will hold a business meeting at 7 PM.

I want to say to you, Mr. Zorin, that I do not have your talent for obfuscation, for distortion, for confusing language, and for doubletalk. And I must confess to you that I am glad that I do not!

But if I understood what you said, you said that my position had changed, that today I was defensive because we did not have the evidence to prove our assertions, that your Government had installed long-range missiles in Cuba.

Well, let me say something to you, Mr. Ambassador—we do have the evidence. We have it, and it is clear and it is incontrovertible. And let me say something else—those weapons must be taken out of Cuba.

Next, let me say to you that, if I understood you, with a trespass on credibility that excels your best, you said that our position had changed since I spoke here the other day because of the pressures of world opinion and the majority of the United Nations. Well, let me say to you, sir, you are wrong again. We have had no pressure from anyone whatsoever. We came in here today to indicate our willingness to discuss Mr. U Thant’s proposals, and that is the only change that has taken place.

But let me also say to you, sir, that there has been a change. You—the Soviet Union has sent these weapons to Cuba. You—the Soviet Union has upset the balance of power in the world. You—the Soviet Union has created this new danger, not the United States.

And you ask with a fine show of indignation why the President did not tell Mr. Gromyko on last Thursday about our evidence, at the very time that Mr. Gromyko was blandly denying to the President that the U.S.S.R. was placing such weapons on sites in the new world.

Well, I will tell you why—because we were assembling the evidence, and perhaps it would be instructive to the world to see how a Soviet official—how far he would go in perfidy. Perhaps we wanted to know if this country faced another example of nuclear deceit like that one a year ago, when in stealth, the Soviet Union broke the nuclear test moratorium.

And while we are asking questions, let me ask you why your Government—your Foreign Minister—deliberately, cynically deceived us about the nuclear build-up in Cuba….

On this day in 1909, an explosion hits the Pabst Brewery:

On this date a major boiler house explosion devastated three stories at Pabst Brewing Company early in the morning. The damage was estimated at about $250,000, one worker was killed and another was injured. Pabst Brewing Company filed a claim with its insurer, the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, to recover damages from the explosion. [Source: Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company]

JigZone‘s puzzle of the day is of a clock face:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Monday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of fifty-five. Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset is 5:56 PM, for 10h 36m 15s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 32.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission is scheduled to meet today at 4:30 PM.

On this day in 1861, Abraham Lincoln receives the first transcontinental telegraph message:

On October 24, 1861, with the push of a button, California’s chief justice, Stephen J. Field, wired a message from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, congratulating him on the transcontinental telegraph’s completion that day. He added the wish that it would be a ‘means of strengthening the attachment which binds both the East and the West to the Union.’

A rudimentary version of the Internet — not much more advanced than two tin cans and a string — had been born. But it worked, and it grew.
Just a few years after the nation was wired, telegraph technology would be extended to the rest of North America, and soon cylindrical wires from Mexico to Canada would jangle with little bursts of electromagnetic juice, sending messages of every kind and redefining how communication can mean business.

On this day in 1933, a noted aviator visits Janesville:

1933 – Amelia Earhart Visits Janesville
On this date Amelia Earhart spoke to the Janesville Woman’s History Club as part of the group’s 57th anniversary celebration. Four years later, Earhart disappeared as she attempted to fly across the Pacific Ocean. [Source: Janesville Gazette 10/24/1933, p.2]

JigZone‘s puzzle for Monday is of a bronze statue:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in town will be sunny and mild with a high of sixty-seven. Sunrise is 7:19 AM and sunset 5:58 PM, for 10h 38m 57s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 42.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW Poll asked readers whether they thought that the Cubs or Dodgers would win the National League Championship Series. Most respondents (70.83%) thought that the Cubs would win, and they did win last night by shutting out Los Angeles 5-0 at Wrigley Field.

On this day in 1942, the Allies launch the Second Battle of El Alamein:

The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October–11 November 1942) was a decisive^[9][10] battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. With the Allies victorious, it marked the watershed of the Western Desert Campaign. The First Battle of El Alamein, had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt. In August 1942, Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery took command of the Eighth Army following the sacking of General Claude Auchinleck and the death of his replacement Lieutenant-General William Gott in a plane crash.

The British victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields via North Africa. Second El Alamein revived the morale of the Allies, being the first big success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941. The battle coincided with the Allied invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch, which started on 8 November.

On this day in 1921, it’s a first for the Packers:

On this date the Green Bay Packers played their first NFL game. The Packers defeated the Minneapolis Marines 7-6, for a crowd of 6,000 fans and completed their inaugural season with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 2 ties. [Source: Packers.com]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday in town will be cloudy in the morning, but sunnier in the afternoon, with a daytime high of sixty.  Sunrise is 7:18 AM and sunset 5:59 PM, for 10h 41m 40s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 52.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

On October 22 at 7:00 pm EDT, President Kennedy delivered a nationwide televised address on all of the major networks announcing the discovery of the missiles.

It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.[58]

Kennedy described the administration’s plan:

To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba, from whatever nation or port, will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948.[58]

On this day in 1843, a noted agricultural scientist is born:

1843 – Stephen Moulton Babcock Born
On this date Stephen Moulton Babcock was born in Bridgewater, New York. From 1887 to 1913, he was a professor of agricultural chemistry at the University of Wisconsin and chief chemist for the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1890 Babcock developed the Babcock test for determining the butterfat content of milk. The test advanced the modern dairy industry as it permitted rapid and accurate grading of milk at markets, discouraged adulteration and thinning practices, and promoted the development of better dairy strains. Babcock worked for 43 years at the University of Wisconsin, where he established a laboratory to conduct pioneering research in nutrition and vitamin chemistry. Babcock died on July 2, 1931.