Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be a day of scattered thunderstorms and a high of seventy-nine.  Sunrise is 5:15 PM and sunset is 8:32 PM, for 15h 16m 45s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 22.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s CDA Board meets at 5 PM, and her Police and Fire Commission at 6:30 PM.

Google has a doodle today to mark the birthday of Phoebe Snetsinger, who in her lifetime had seen 8,398 species of birds.

On this day in 1973, Secretariat wins the Triple Crown:

In the stretch, Secretariat opened a lead of almost ¹?₁₆ mile on the rest of the field. At the finish, he won by 31 lengths (breaking the margin-of-victory record set by Triple Crown winner Count Fleet in 1943, who won by 25 lengths), and ran the fastest 1¹?₂ miles on dirt in history, 2:24 flat, which broke the stakes record by more than two seconds.^[29][30] This works out to a speed of 37.5 mph for his entire performance. Secretariat’s record still stands; no other horse has ever broken 2:24 for 1¹?₂miles on dirt. If the Beyer Speed Figure calculation had been developed during that time, Andrew Beyer calculated that Secretariat would have earned a figure of 139, the highest he has ever assigned.^[31] Bettors holding 5,617 winning parimutuel tickets on Secretariat never redeemed them, presumably keeping them as souvenirs (and because the tickets would have paid only $2.20 on a $2 bet).^[32]

The race is widely considered the greatest performance of the twentieth century by a North American racehorse. Blood-Horse magazine editor Kent Hollingsworth described the impact: “Two twenty-four flat! I don’t believe it. Impossible. But I saw it. I can’t breathe. He won by a sixteenth of a mile! I saw it. I have to believe it.”^[33]

Secretariat became the ninth Triple Crown winner in history, and the first in 25 years.

A Google a Day asks a geography question: “What area of the country is the main benefactor of the electricity generated by the Hoover Dam?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Wednesday in town will be sunny with a high of seventy-five.  Sunrise is 5:16 AM and sunset is 8:32 PM, for 15h 16m 01s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 13.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1944, American and British soldiers link at Normandy:

U.S. General Omar Bradley, following orders from General Eisenhower, links up American troops from Omaha Beach with British troops from Gold Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer. Meanwhile, Russian Premier Joseph Stalin telegraphs British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to announce that the Allied success at Normandy “is a source of joy to us all,” and promises to launch his own offensive on the Eastern Front, as had been agreed upon at the Tehran Conference in late ’43, and thereby prevent Hitler from transferring German troops from the east to support troops at Normandy.

It’s Frank Lloyd Wright’s birthday:

On this date Frank Lincoln Wright (he changed his middle name after his parents divorced) was born in Richland Center. An architect, author, and social critic, Wright’s artistic genius demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to create architectural space and vocabulary that drew inspiration from both nature and technology. The son of William Cary Wright, a lawyer and music teacher, and Anna Lloyd Jones, a school teacher, Frank Lloyd Wright’s family moved to Madison in 1877 to be near Anna’s family in Spring Green.

Wright briefly studied civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, after which he moved to Chicago to pursue a career in architecture. Wright started his own firm in 1893 and between 1893 and 1901, 49 buildings designed by Wright were built. Some notable Frank Lloyd Wright structures in Wisconsin include S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc. Administration Building in Racine, the A.D. German Warehouse in Richland Center, and Taliesin and Hillside in Spring Green. The Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison was also based on Wright’s design. Frank Lloyd Wright died on April 9, 1959, in Phoenix, Arizona. [Source: American National Biography, Vol. 24, 1999, p.15]

A Google a Day asks a baseball question: “One of the greatest baseball players of all time was banned from the game for life after he and seven other players accepted bribes to throw a game in what year?”

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.]