Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday will be sunny with a high of seventy-nine. Sunrise is 6:39 AM and sunset 6:57 PM, for 12h 18m 16s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 95.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW Poll asked readers whether it would be the Packers or Vikings tonight.  Most respondents (71.43%) picked Green Bay.

On this day in 1759, the French surrender Quebec to Britain:

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, (Bataille des Plaines d’Abraham or Première bataille de Québec in French) was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years’ War (referred to as the French and Indian War in the United States). The battle, which began on 13 September 1759, was fought by the British Army and Navy against the French Army on a plateau just outside the walls of Quebec City, on land that was originally owned by a farmer named Abraham Martin, hence the name of the battle. The battle involved fewer than 10,000 troops between both sides, but proved to be a deciding moment in the conflict between France and Britainover the fate of New France, influencing the later creation of Canada.^[4]

The culmination of a three-month siege by the British, the battle lasted about 15 minutes. British troops commanded by General James Wolfe successfully resisted the column advance of French troops and Canadien militia under General Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, employing new tactics that proved extremely effective against standard military formations used in most large European conflicts. Both generals were mortally wounded during the battle; Wolfe received three gunshot wounds that ended his life within minutes of the beginning of the engagement and Montcalm died the next morning after receiving a musket ball wound just below his ribs. In the wake of the battle, the French evacuated the city; their remaining military force in Canada and the rest of North America came under increasing pressure from British forces….

In the wake of the battle, a state of confusion spread through the French troops.Governor de Vaudreuil, who later wrote to his government and put the full blame for the French rout on the deceased Montcalm,^[59] decided to abandon Quebec and the Beauport shore, ordering all of his forces to march west and eventually join up with Bougainville, leaving the garrison in Quebec under the command of Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Roch de Ramezay.^[60]

Meanwhile, the British, first under the command of Townshend and later with Murray in charge, settled in to besiege the city in conjunction with Saunders’ fleet. Within days, on 18 September, de Ramezay, Townshend and Saunders signed the Articles of Capitulation of Quebec and the city was turned over to British control.^[61] The remaining French forces positioned themselves on the Jacques-Cartier River west of the city.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday in town will be sunny with a high of seventy-nine.  Sunrise is 6:38 AM and sunset 6:59 PM, for 12h 21m 09s of daytime.  The moon is almost full today, with 99.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention sign a final document for presentation to the states:

From August 6 to September 10, the report of the committee of detail was discussed, section by section and clause by clause. Details were attended to, and further compromises were effected.^[27][29] Toward the close of these discussions, on September 8, a “Committee of Style and Arrangement” – Alexander Hamilton (New York),William Samuel Johnson (Connecticut), Rufus King (Massachusetts), James Madison (Virginia), and Gouverneur Morris (Pennsylvania) – was appointed to distill a final draft constitution from the twenty-three approved articles.^[29] The final draft, presented to the convention on September 12, contained seven articles, a preamble and a closing endorsement, of which Morris was the primary author.^[23] The committee also presented a proposed letter to accompany the constitution when delivered to Congress.^[31]

The final document, engrossed by Jacob Shallus,^[32] was taken up on Monday, September 17, at the Convention’s final session. Several of the delegates were disappointed in the result, a makeshift series of unfortunate compromises. Some delegates left before the ceremony, and three others refused to sign. Of the thirty-nine signers, Benjamin Franklin summed up, addressing the Convention: “There are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them.” He would accept the Constitution, “because I expect no better and because I am not sure that it is not the best”.^[33]

The advocates of the Constitution were anxious to obtain unanimous support of all twelve states represented in the Convention. Their accepted formula for the closing endorsement was “Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present.” At the end of the convention, the proposal was agreed to by eleven state delegations and the lone remaining delegate from New York, Alexander Hamilton.^[34]

On this day in 1862, Wisconsinites defending the Union see fighting in Maryland:

September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest day in U.S. military history. More than 125,000 troops faced off and over 24,000 were killed, wounded or missing as Union forces stopped the first Confederate invasion of the North. The 2nd, 6th and 7th Wisconsin Infantry regiments were in the thickest of the fighting. The 6th Infantry led a charge that killed or wounded 150 of its 280 men. Of the 800 officers and men in the Iron Brigade who marched out that morning, 343 were wounded or killed.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday in town will see heavy thunderstorms in the morning, with a daytime high of seventy-four. Sunrise is 6:37 AM and sunset 7:01 PM, for 12h 24m 02s of daytime. The moon is full, with 99.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

So who was Granny Smith, and why is an apple named after her? Here’s the who and why of it –

General Motors was founded by William C. Durant on September 16, 1908 as a holding company after a 15-year contract with the McLaughlin’s of Canada. Initially, GM held only the Buick Motor Company, but it rapidly acquired more than twenty companies including Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Oakland, now known as Pontiac. Durant signed a 15-year contract in Canada with the exchange of 500,000 shares of Buick stock for 500,000 shares of McLaughlin Stock. Dr. Campbell, Durant’s son-in-law, put 1,000,000 shares on the stock market in Chicago Buick (then controlled by Durant).

Durant’s company, the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, had been in business in Flint since 1886, and by 1900, was producing over 100,000 carriages a year in factories located in Michigan and Canada. Prior to his acquisition of Buick, Durant had several Ford dealerships. With springs, axles and other key components being provided to the early automotive industry by Durant-Dort, it can be reasoned that GM actually began with the founding of Durant-Dort.^[3]

Durant acquired Oldsmobile later in 1908. The next year, he brought in Cadillac, Cartercar, Elmore, Ewing, and Oakland (later known as Pontiac). In 1909, General Motors also acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. A Rapid became the first truck to conquer Pikes Peak in 1909. In 1910, Welch and Rainier were added to the ever-growing list of companies controlled by GM. Durant lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust as the deal to buy Ford for $8,000,000.00 fell through, due to the large amount of debt (around $1 million) taken on in its acquisitions R S McLaughlin Director and friend left at the same time.

Durant left the firm and co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Company in 1911 with Louis Chevrolet. R S McLaughlin in 1915 built Chevrolet in Canada and after a stock buy back campaign with the McLaughlin and DuPont corporations, and other Chevrolet stock holders, he returned to head GM in 1916,as Chevrolet owned 54.5% with the backing of Pierre S. du Pont.

Here’s JigZone‘s daily puzzle for Friday:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of seventy-seven. Sunrise is 6:36 AM and sunset 7:02 PM, for 12h 26m 55s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 97.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

Uber’s testing self-driving cars in Pittsburgh.  Here’s what that looks like:

On this date a a treaty was signed between the Ho-Chunk and the United States that stipulated that the Ho-Chunk cede lands lying to the south and east of the Wisconsin river as well as lands around the Fox river of Green Bay. [Source: Oklahoma State University Library]

JigZone‘s puzzle of the day is of a flower:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Midweek in the city will be partly cloudy with a high of seventy-two. Sunrise is 6:35 AM and sunset 7:04 PM, for 12h 29m 46s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

There’s a Fire Department Business Meeting scheduled for tonight at 7 PM.

On this day in 1812, dictator & imperialist Napoleon captures Moscow, but doesn’t find what he expects:

On September 14, 1812, Napoleon moved into the empty city that was stripped of all supplies by its governor, Feodor Rostopchin. Relying on classical rules of warfare aiming at capturing the enemy’s capital (even though Saint Petersburg was the political capital at that time, Moscow was the spiritual capital of Russia), Napoleon had expected TsarAlexander I to offer his capitulation at the Poklonnaya Hill but the Russian command did not think of surrendering.

As Napoleon prepared to enter Moscow he was surprised to have received no delegation from the city. At the approach of a victorious general, the civil authorities customarily presented themselves at the gates of the city with the keys to the city in an attempt to safeguard the population and their property. As nobody received Napoleon he sent his aides into the city, seeking out officials with whom the arrangements for the occupation could be made. When none could be found, it became clear that the Russians had left the city unconditionally.^[67]

In a normal surrender, the city officials would be forced to find billets and make arrangements for the feeding of the soldiers, but the situation caused a free-for-all in which every man was forced to find lodgings and sustenance for himself. Napoleon was secretly disappointed by the lack of custom as he felt it robbed him of a traditional victory over the Russians, especially in taking such a historically significant city.^[67]

Before the order was received to evacuate Moscow, the city had a population of approximately 270,000 people. As much of the population pulled out, the remainder were burning or robbing the remaining stores of food, depriving the French of their use. As Napoleon entered the Kremlin, there still remained one-third of the original population, mainly consisting of foreign traders, servants and people who were unable or unwilling to flee. These, including the several hundred strong French colony, attempted to avoid the troops.

Napoleon would later retreat from Russia entirely, having lost most of the Grande Armée, and having caused on both sides the deaths of over one-half million people in the campaign.

For Wednesday, JigZone offers a cat puzzle: