This Tuesday, October 25th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Young Frankenstein @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building.
In Young Frankenstein, an “American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.”
The 1974 comedy classic, directed by Mel Brooks, stars Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, and Peter Boyle, with a run time of one hour, forty-six minutes. The film carries a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.
[t]he American Psychological Association has released some preliminary data from its upcoming annual “Stress in America” report, on the nation’s level of anxiety specifically around this election.
Around half of people surveyed (52 percent) say the election “is a very or somewhat significant” source of stress in their lives. The breakdown by party is about even: 59 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats say this election is causing them stress.
There’s much at stake, but nationally, statewide, or locally there’s no reason for anxiety over November 8th’s results. We’re a resilient people, having been through conditions far more difficult than those we face today. We’ve come through a revolution, a civil war, two world wars, a cold war, a depression, a great recession, and significant periods of protest until legal reform. We’re more than able to manage the current elections, whatever their results.
Far from being a source of anxiety, our exercise of fundamental rights should be a source of confidence for us.
Think too much about today, and the sky might seem to be falling. Look back even briefly at our history, and one has cause for equanimity. more >>
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 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.
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:
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.
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 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]
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]
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.
Friday brings partly cloudy skies and a high of fifty-two to town. Sunrise is 7:17 AM and sunset is 6:01 PM, for 10h 44m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 64.8% of its visible disk illuminated.
Constitution was retired from active service in 1881, and served as a receiving ship until designated a museum ship in 1907. In 1934, she completed a three-year, 90-port tour of the nation. Constitution sailed under her own power for her 200th birthday in 1997, and again in August 2012 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of her victory over Guerriere.On
On this date the Yerkes Observatory was dedicated. Founded by astronomer George Hale and located in Williams Bay, the Yerkes Observatory houses the world’s largest refracting optical telescope, with a lens of diameter 102 cm/40 inches. It was built through the largess of the tycoon Charles Tyson Yerkes, who rebuilt important parts of the Chicago transportation system after the fire. Situated in a 77-acre park on the shore of Lake Geneva, this observatory was the center for world astronomy in the early 20th century and invited a number of astronomers from around the world, including Japan, for scientific exchange. [Source: Yerkes Observatory Virtual Museum]
Thursday in town will be cloudy in the morning, with afternoon sunshine, and a high of fifty-seven. Sunrise is 7:15 AM and sunset 6:02 PM, for 10h 47m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 75.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
The Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane “Sale of Louisiana”) was the acquisition of the Louisiana territory (828,000 square miles) by the United States from France in 1803. The U.S. paid fifty million francs ($11,250,000 USD) and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million francs ($3,750,000 USD) for a total of sixty-eight million francs ($15,000,000 USD, or around a quarter of a billion in 2016 dollars). The Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; a large portion of North Dakota; a large portion of South Dakota; the northeastern section of New Mexico; the northern portion of Texas; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River (plus New Orleans); and small portions of land within the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Its population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were African slaves.[1]
The Kingdom of France controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. Napoleon in 1800, hoping to re-establish an empire in North America, regained ownership of Louisiana. However, France’s failure to put down the revolt in Saint-Domingue, coupled with the prospect of renewed warfare with the United Kingdom, prompted Napoleon to sell Louisiana to the United States. The Americans originally sought to purchase only the port city of New Orleans and its adjacent coastal lands, but quickly accepted the bargain. The Louisiana Purchase occurred during the term of the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Before the purchase was finalized, the decision faced Federalist Party opposition; they argued that it was unconstitutional to acquire any territory. Jefferson agreed that the U.S. Constitution did not contain explicit provisions for acquiring territory, but he asserted that his constitutional power to negotiate treaties was sufficient….
On the following day, October 21, 1803, the Senate authorized Jefferson to take possession of the territory and establish a temporary military government. In legislation enacted on October 31, Congress made temporary provisions for local civil government to continue as it had under French and Spanish rule and authorized the President to use military forces to maintain order. Plans were also set forth for several missions to explore and chart the territory, the most famous being the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
On this date Frederick Douglass arrived in Beaver Dam and spoke about the brutality and immorality of slavery. His speech was also intended to generate support for the abolitionist movement in Dodge Co. and Wisconsin. A former runaway slave and leading orator and author of the abolitionist movement, Douglass is regarded as one of the most influential Americans of the 19th century. [Source: Wisconsin Local History Network]
On this date the Milwaukee Brewers played game seven against the St. Louis Cardinals in the “Suds Series” to be crowned Major League Baseball World Champions. The Cardinals won the series 4 games to 3 to be named World Champs. [Source: Baseball Almanac]
Immigration has proven to be one of the most divisive issues in the 2016 presidential race. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have expressed that the system is broken, but a consensus on any solution seems untenable. In this video, Atlantic national correspondent James Fallows and contributing writer Deborah Fallows ventured across the country to bridge the disconnect between national political rhetoric on immigration and the realities in migrant communities. They travelled to three American states—Pennsylvania, California, and Kansas—to understand the economic benefits that immigrants bring to the small towns they most often reside in.
This documentary was produced for American Futures, an ongoing reporting project from James and Deborah Fallows. The couple has spent three years exploring small town America by air, “taking seriously places that don’t usually get registered seriously.”
Midweek in town will be partly cloudy with a high of sixty-nine. Sunrise is 7:14 AM and sunset 6:04 PM, for 10h 49m 53s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 84.4% of its visible disk illuminated.
The Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM this afternoon, and the Parks & Recreation Board at 6:30 PM.
The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the Surrender at Yorktown, German Battle or the Siege of Little York,[a][b] ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by British lord and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American theater, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The battle boosted faltering American morale and revived French enthusiasm for the war, as well as undermining popular support for the conflict in Great Britain.[8]
In 1780, approximately 5,500 French soldiers landed in Rhode Island to assist their American allies in operations against British-controlled New York City. Following the arrival of dispatches from France that included the possibility of support from the French West Indies fleet of the Comte de Grasse, Washington and Rochambeau decided to ask de Grasse for assistance either in besieging New York, or in military operations against a British army operating in Virginia. On the advice of Rochambeau, de Grasse informed them of his intent to sail to the Chesapeake Bay, where Cornwallis had taken command of the army. Cornwallis, at first given confusing orders by his superior officer, Henry Clinton, was eventually ordered to build a defensible deep-water port, which he began to do in Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis’ movements in Virginia were shadowed by a Continental Army force led by the Marquis de Lafayette.
The French and American armies united north of New York City during the summer of 1781. When word of de Grasse’s decision arrived, the combined armies began moving south toward Virginia, engaging in tactics of deception to lead the British to believe a siege of New York was planned. De Grasse sailed from the West Indies and arrived at the Chesapeake Bay at the end of August, bringing additional troops and providing a naval blockade of Yorktown. He was transporting 500,000 silver pesos collected from the citizens of Havana, Cuba, to fund supplies for the siege and payroll for the Continental Army.[9] While in Santo Domingo, de Grasse met with Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis, an agent of Carlos III of Spain. De Grasse had planned to leave several of his warships in Santo Domingo. Saavedra promised the assistance of the Spanish navy to protect the French merchant fleet, enabling de Grasse to sail north with all of his warships.[10] In the beginning of September, he defeated a British fleet led by Sir Thomas Graves that came to relieve Cornwallis at the Battle of the Chesapeake. As a result of this victory, de Grasse blocked any escape by sea for Cornwallis. By late September Washington and Rochambeau arrived, and the army and naval forces completely surrounded Cornwallis.
After initial preparations, the Americans and French built their first parallel and began the bombardment. With the British defense weakened, on October 14, 1781 Washington sent two columns to attack the last major remaining British outer defenses. A French column took redoubt #9 and an American column took redoubt #10. With these defenses taken, the allies were able to finish their second parallel. With the American artillery closer and more intense than ever, the British situation began to deteriorate rapidly and Cornwallis asked for capitulation terms on the 17th. After two days of negotiation, the surrender ceremony took place on the 19th; Lord Cornwallis, claiming to be ill, was absent from the ceremony. With the capture of more than 7,000 British soldiers, negotiations between the United States and Great Britain began, resulting in the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
JigZone‘s puzzle for Wednesday is of a butterfly on a blue flower:
