Good morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday in town will be cloudy with a high of sixty-nine. Sunrise is 5:16 AM and sunset 8:31 PM, for 15h 15m 13s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 7.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Alcohol Licensing Committee meets at 6 PM, and Common Council at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1776, Richard Henry Lee proposes:

In August 1774, Lee was chosen as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. In Lee’s Resolution on the 7th of June 1776 during the Second Continental Congress, Lee put forth the motion to the Continental Congress to declare Independence from Great Britain, which read (in part):

Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

Lee had returned to Virginia by the time Congress voted on and adopted the Declaration of Independence, but he signed the document when he returned to Congress.

On this day in 1924, Wisconsin honors an inventor:

On this date the bronze tablet memorializing C. Latham Sholes was unveiled. Sholes, who lived in Milwaukee, invented the typewriter in 1867. The plaque gives thanks to the “one who materially aided in the world’s progress,” and can be seen at the Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, where Sholes rests. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Homes]

A Google a Day asks a geography question: “The European country that has a half-submerged church in the middle of its largest artificial lake is located in what peninsula?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Monday in town will bring an afternoon thunderstorm and a high of seventy-six. Sunrise is 5:16 AM and sunset 8:30 PM, for 15h 14m 22s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 2.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

Today is the anniversary, from 6.6.1944, of Allied landings at Normandy:

By dawn on June 6, 18,000 parachutists were already on the ground; the land invasions began at 6:30 a.m. The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture Gold, Juno and Sword beaches; so did the Americans at Utah. The task was much tougher at Omaha beach, however, where 2,000 troops were lost and it was only through the tenacity and quick-wittedness of troops on the ground that the objective was achieved. By day’s end, 155,000 Allied troops–Americans, British and Canadians–had successfully stormed Normandy’s beaches.

For their part, the Germans suffered from confusion in the ranks and the absence of celebrated commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who was away on leave. At first, Hitler, believing that the invasion was a feint designed to distract the Germans from a coming attack north of the Seine River, refused to release nearby divisions to join the counterattack and reinforcements had to be called from further afield, causing delays. He also hesitated in calling for armored divisions to help in the defense. In addition, the Germans were hampered by effective Allied air support, which took out many key bridges and forced the Germans to take long detours, as well as efficient Allied naval support, which helped protect advancing Allied troops.

On this day in 1622, a missionary and explorer is born:

On this date Jean Claude Allouez was born. As a Jesuit missionary, Allouez founded several missions in the Green Bay area and left a journal describing his travels as well as the peoples and wildlife of Wisconsin in the mid 1600s. [Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography, SHSW 1960]

A Google a Day ask about numbers: “There are approximately 1 million ants for every how many people on the planet?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in town will be partly sunny, with a passing afternoon shower, and a high of seventy-six. Sunrise is 5:16 AM and sunset 8:30 PM, for 15h 13m 26s of daytime. The moon is new, with .2% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW poll asked if readers thought that the Cleveland Cavaliers or Golden State Warriors were more likely to win the 2016 NBA championship. A clear majority of readers, 69.23%, picked Golden State. Game 2 is 7 PM tonight in Oakland.

On this day in 1947, U.S. Secretary of State, George Marshall, after Soviet intransigence on cooperation in Europe, announced the European Recovery Program (now known, of course, as the Marshall Plan):

After the adjournment of the Moscow conference following six weeks of failed discussions with the Soviets regarding a potential German reconstruction, the United States concluded that a solution could not wait any longer.[39]

To clarify the US’s position, a major address by Secretary of State George Marshall was planned. Marshall gave the address to the graduating class of Harvard University on June 5, 1947. Standing on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard, he offered American aid to promote European recovery and reconstruction. The speech described the dysfunction of the European economy and presented a rationale for US aid:

“The modern system of the division of labor upon which the exchange of products is based is in danger of breaking down. … Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health to the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is not directed against any country, but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Any government that is willing to assist in recovery will find full co-operation on the part of the USA. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.”

Marshall was convinced that economic stability would provide political stability in Europe. He offered aid, but the European countries had to organize the program themselves.

On this day in 1883, a malted milk magnate receives a patent:

1883 – Horlick’s Malted Milk Patented
On this date William Horlick patented the first powdered milk in the world. He named his new product, intended to be used as a health food for infants, “Malted Milk.” Horlick’s product went on to be used as a staple in fountain drinks as well as survival provisions. Malted milk was even included in explorations undertaken by Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen and Richard Byrd. [Source: Racine History]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday in town will bring an even chance of thunderstorms and a high of seventy-six. Sunrise is 5:17 AM and sunset 8:29 PM, for 15h 12m 28s of daytime.  We’ve a new moon, with just .6% of its visible disk illuminated.

Some roads are more difficult than others, but if one assesses difficulty as being dangerous, then the road from in India from Killar to Kishtwar likely ranks as one  of the most difficult in the world:

On this day in 1942, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive U.S. victories against Japan during World War II–begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy….

When the Battle of Midway ended, Japan had lost four carriers, a cruiser and 292 aircraft, and suffered an estimated 2,500 casualties. The U.S. lost the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft and suffered approximately 300 casualties.

Japan’s losses hobbled its naval might–bringing Japanese and American sea power to approximate parity–and marked the turning point in the Pacific theater of World War II. In August 1942, the great U.S. counteroffensive began at Guadalcanal and did not cease until Japan’s surrender three years later.

On this day in 1861, a surgical first occurs in Wisconsin:

On this date Dr. Erastus B. Wolcott, a Milwaukee surgeon, performed the first recorded removal of a diseased kidney. [Source: History Just Ahead: A guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers edited by Sarah Davis McBride, p. 22.]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday in town will be mostly sunny with a high of eighty-two. Sunrise is 5:17 AM and sunset 8:28 PM, for 15h 11m 25s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 4.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind arrives on this day in 1936:

In 1926, Mitchell was forced to quit her job as a reporter at the Atlanta Journal to recover from a series of physical injuries. With too much time on her hands, Mitchell soon grew restless. Working on a Remington typewriter, a gift from her second husband, John R. Marsh, in their cramped one-bedroom apartment, Mitchell began telling the story of an Atlanta belle named Pansy O’Hara.

In tracing Pansy’s tumultuous life from the antebellum South through the Civil War and into the Reconstruction era, Mitchell drew on the tales she had heard from her parents and other relatives, as well as from Confederate war veterans she had met as a young girl. While she was extremely secretive about her work, Mitchell eventually gave the manuscript to Harold Latham, an editor from New York’s MacMillan Publishing. Latham encouraged Mitchell to complete the novel, with one important change: the heroine’s name. Mitchell agreed to change it to Scarlett, now one of the most memorable names in the history of literature.

Published in 1936, Gone with the Wind caused a sensation in Atlanta and went on to sell millions of copies in the United States and throughout the world. While the book drew some criticism for its romanticized view of the Old South and its slaveholding elite, its epic tale of war, passion and loss captivated readers far and wide. By the time Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937, a movie project was already in the works. The film was produced by Hollywood giant David O. Selznick, who paid Mitchell a record-high $50,000 for the film rights to her book.

On this day in 1965, the first American spacewalk takes place as Edward White leaves his Gemini capsule. The New York Times reported the event the next day:

Cape Kennedy, Friday, June 4–For 20 minutes yesterday afternoon Maj. Edward H. White 2d of the Air Force was a human satellite of the earth as he floated across North America from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

Tethered to the Gemini 4 spacecraft, he chatted good-humoredly and snapped pictures as he darted about in raw space with a the aid of a gas-firing jet gun. Asked how he was doing by Maj. James A. McDivitt of the Air Force, the spaceship commander, Major White replied to his partner in the capsule:

“I’m doing great. This is fun.”

When he was told to re-enter the capsule, Major White laughed and said: “I’m not coming in.” But later, after more banter, he followed through on orders to return.

A Google a Day asks about a cartoon: “What comedians were the inspiration for the names of the two hungry cats in the short that marked Tweety Bird’s first appearance?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be sunny with a high of seventy-seven. Sunrise is 5:17 AM and sunset 8:28 PM, for 15h 10m 20s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 10.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets tonight at 6 PM.

On 6.2.1886,

President Grover Cleveland becomes the first sitting president to marry in the White House on this day in 1886.

Cleveland entered the White House as a bachelor and left a married man and father of two. His new wife was a beautiful young woman 27 years his junior named Frances Folsom. Frances was the daughter of a former law partner and Cleveland’s legal ward; Cleveland had literally known her since she was born. When she was 11, Frances’ father died and Cleveland became her legal guardian, remaining close friends with her mother. His pet name for Frances was Frank. Observers thought Cleveland would marry his friend’s widow and were completely surprised when, instead, he married Frances as soon as she turned 21.

In another White House first, Frances and Cleveland’s second daughter Esther became the first child born to a president in a White House bedroom.

On this day in 1981, the video arcade game Donkey Kong makes its debut in America.

Good morning, Whitewater.

The first day of a new month brings to town morning thundershowers but thereafter gradual clearing and a high of eighty-two.  Sunrise is 5:18 AM and sunset 8:27 PM, for 15h 09m 10s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 18.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Parks & Recreation Board meets today at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1779, a court martial (about charges before later treason) of Benedict Arnold begins (only to conclude months after beginning):

The court martial to consider the charges against Arnold began meeting on June 1, 1779, but was delayed until December 1779 by General Clinton’s capture of Stony Point, New York, throwing the army into a flurry of activity to react.^[67] A number of members of the panel of judges were ill-disposed to Arnold over actions and disputes earlier in the war, yet Arnold was cleared of all but two minor charges on January 26, 1780.^[68] Arnold worked over the next few months to publicize this fact; however, in early April, just one week after Washington congratulated Arnold on the March 19 birth of his son, Edward Shippen Arnold, Washington published a formal rebuke of Arnold’s behavior.^[69]

The Commander-in-Chief would have been much happier in an occasion of bestowing commendations on an officer who had rendered such distinguished services to his country as Major General Arnold; but in the present case, a sense of duty and a regard to candor oblige him to declare that he considers his conduct [in the convicted actions] as imprudent and improper.

— Notice published by George Washington, April 6, 1780^[70]

On June 1, 1980, television news in America moves to cable:

…CNN (Cable News Network), the world’s first 24-hour television news network, makes its debut. The network signed on at 6 p.m. EST from its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, with a lead story about the attempted assassination of civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. CNN went on to change the notion that news could only be reported at fixed times throughout the day. At the time of CNN’s launch, TV news was dominated by three major networks–ABC, CBS and NBC–and their nightly 30-minute broadcasts. Initially available in less than two million U.S. homes, today CNN is seen in more than 89 million American households and over 160 million homes internationally….

Here’s a recording of CNN’s first hour from that first day: