Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny in the morning, followed by a thirty-percent chance of afternoon showers. Sunrise is 5:25 AM and sunset 8:17 PM, for 14h 52m 47s of daytime. We’ve a full moon today, with 99.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1881, the Red Cross begins:

In Washington, D.C., humanitarians Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons found the American National Red Cross, an organization established to provide humanitarian aid to victims of wars and natural disasters in congruence with the International Red Cross.

Barton, born in Massachusetts in 1821, worked with the sick and wounded during the American Civil War and became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield” for her tireless dedication. In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln commissioned her to search for lost prisoners of war, and with the extensive records she had compiled during the war she succeeded in identifying thousands of the Union dead at the Andersonville prisoner-of-war camp.

She was in Europe in 1870 when the Franco-Prussian War broke out, and she went behind the German lines to work for the International Red Cross. In 1873, she returned to the United States, and four years later she organized an American branch of the International Red Cross. The American Red Cross received its first U.S. federal charter in 1900. Barton headed the organization into her 80s and died in 1912.

On this day in 1673, explorers push on:

1673 – Marquette and Joliet Reach the Menominee
On or about May 21, 1673, Fr. Jacques Marquette, fur-trader Louis Joliet, and five French voyageurs pulled into a Menominee community near modern Marinette, Mich. Marquette wrote that when the Menominee learned that he and Joliet intended to try to descend the Mississippi River all the way to the sea, “They were greatly surprised to hear it, and did their best to dissuade me. They represented to me that I should meet nations who never show mercy to strangers, but break their heads without any cause; and that war was kindled between various peoples who dwelt upon our route, which exposed us to the further manifest danger of being killed by the bands of warriors who are ever in the field. They also said that the great river was very dangerous, when one does not know the difficult places; that it was full of horrible monsters, which devoured men and canoes together; that there was even a demon, who was heard from a great distance, who barred the way, and swallowed up all who ventured to approach him; finally that the heat was so excessive in those countries that it would inevitably cause our death.”

Read what Fr. Marquette said in reply, and follow the explorers down the Mississippi and back again on our pages devoted to Historic Diaries.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of seventy-two.  Sunrise is 5:25 AM and sunset 8:16 PM, for 14h 51m 00s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On 5.20.1873, a famous item of clothing’s inventors receive a patent: “San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and Reno, Nevada, tailor Jacob Davis are given a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets, marking the birth of one of the world’s most famous garments: blue jeans.”

On this day in 1991, a treaty dispute between the Ojibwe and Wisconsin ends:

On this day, the 17-year legal battle between Ojibwe Indians and the State of Wisconsin over 19th-century treaties involving rights to hunt, fish, and gather timber was put to rest. Dating from 1974, the suit originated after two Ojibwa were cited for spearfishing in off-reservation waters, and led to numerous racially-charged confrontations when subsequent court decisions validated Ojibwe spearfishing rights.

The court rulings split resources evenly between the Ojibwe and non-Indians, and rejected Ojibwe claims for money to compensate them for years of denial of their treaty rights. The chairmen of six Lake Superior Ojibwe bands explained the decision not to appeal as “a gesture of peace and friendship toward the people of Wisconsin,” while Wisconsin Attorney General James Doyle cited the risk of jeopardizing the state’s “many significant victories” in the battle if the state were to press forward. The history of treaty negotiations in Wisconsin, including the texts of all treaties and contemporary accounts by both Indian and white participants, are on the Treaty Councils page of Turning Points in Wisconsin History.[Source: Capital Times 5/20/1991, p.1]

A Google a Day asks a baseball question: “In April of 1993, a team record was set by the New York Mets for the largest attendance on opening day as they played a shutout against what team?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be sunny with a high of seventy. Sunrise is 5:26 AM and sunset is 8:15 PM, for 14h 49m 10s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1588, the Spanish Armada sails for England, and defeat:

A giant Spanish invasion fleet was completed by 1587, but Sir Francis Drake’s daring raid on the port of Cadiz delayed the Armada’s departure until May 1588. The Invincible Armada consisted of 130 ships and carried 2,500 guns and 30,000 men, two-thirds of them soldiers. Delayed by storms, the Armada did not reach the southern coast of England until late July. By that time the British were ready.

On July 21, the outnumbered English navy began bombarding the seven-mile-long line of Spanish ships from a safe distance, taking full advantage of their superior long-range guns. The Spanish Armada continued to advance during the next few days, but its ranks were thinned considerably by the English assault. On July 28, the Spanish retreated to Calais, France, but the English sent ships loaded with explosives into the crowded harbor, which took a heavy toll on the Armada. The next day, an attempt to reach the Netherlands was thwarted by a small Dutch fleet, and the Spanish were forced to face the pursuing English fleet. The superior English guns again won the day, and the Armada retreated north to Scotland.

Battered by storms and suffering from a lack of supplies, the Armada sailed on a difficult journey back to Spain through the North Sea and around Ireland. By the time the last of the surviving fleet reached Spain in October, half of the original armada was destroyed. Queen Elizabeth’s decisive defeat of the Invincible Armada made England a world-class naval power and introduced effective long-range weapons into naval warfare for the first time, ending the era of boarding and close-quarter fighting.

On this day in 1675, explorer Jacques Marquette passes away:

Fr. Jacques Marquette (1636-1675) died on this date in 1675 near Ludington, Michigan, at the age of 39. After the famous voyage down the Mississippi that he made in 1673 with Louis Joliet, Marquette vowed to return to the Indians he’d met in Illinois. He became ill during that visit in the spring of 1675 and was en route to Canada when he passed away. His diary of the trip is online in our American Journeys collection.

A Google a Day asks a history question: “Who, along with her daughter Caroline and others, stitched the original stars and stripes that inspired the words, that were put to music by John Stafford Smith?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Midweek in town will be mostly sunny with a high of sixty-five. Sunrise is 5:27 AM and sunset 8:14 PM, for 14h 47m 17s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 89.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

The Birge Fountain Committee meets today at 3 PM.

On this day in 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano explodes, causing significant losses:

1863 – (Civil War) Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Begins

After nearly three weeks spent encircling Vicksburg, Mississippi, Union forces had bottled up their enemy inside the city and prepared to attack it. Seventeen different Wisconsin regiments were involved in the assault that began the next day (8th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th and 33rd Wisconsin Infantry regiments and the 1st, 6th and 12th Wisconsin Light Artillery batteries as well as the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry).

A Google a Day poses a question on geography: “What town, once a fishing mecca, is now a desert with a “cemetery of ships” due to the shrinking Aral Sea?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday brings partly cloudy skies and a high of sixty-two. Sunrise is 5:28 AM and sunset 8:13 PM, for 14h 45m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 82.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its unanimous opinion in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954).

On this day in 1673, a great expedition begins:

1673 – Jolliet and Marquette Expedition Gets Underway
On this date Louis Jolliet, Father Jacques Marquette, and five French voyageurs departed from the mission of St. Ignace, at the head of Lake Michigan, to reconnoitre the Mississippi River. The party traveled in two canoes throughout the summer of 1673, traveling across Wisconsin, down the Mississippi to the Arkansas River, and back again.  [Source: Historic Diaries: Marquette & Joliet, 1673]

A Google a Day asks about a business name: “What was the previous name of the shipping company, whose ferry sank off the coast of Papua New Guinea on February 2, 2012?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Monday brings showers with a high of sixty-eight to town. Sunrise is 5:29 AM and sunset 8:12 PM, for 14h 43m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 75.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

It’s the anniversary, from 5.16.1929, of the first Academy Awards ceremony:

The official Academy Awards banquet took place in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Some 270 people attended, and tickets cost $5 each. After a long dinner, complete with numerous speeches, Douglas Fairbanks, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which had been formed in 1927, handed out 15 awards in a five-minute ceremony. The awards presentation was somewhat anticlimactic compared to today’s Academy Award ceremonies, as the winners had already been announced in February.

In 1929, movies were just making the transition from silent films to so-called “talkies,” but all the nominated films were without sound. For the only time in Academy history, Best Picture honors were split into two categories: Best Picture – Unique and Artistic Production, and Best Picture – Production. The winner in the first category was F.W. Murnau’s romantic drama Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, starring George O’Brien and Janet Gaynor. William Wellman’s film Wings, set in the World War I-era and starring Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen, won in the second category. Other winners of the night included the German actor Emil Jannings as Best Actor for two films, The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh; and Gaynor as Best Actress. She had received three of the five nominations in the category, and was honored for all three roles, in Sunrise, Seventh Heaven and Street Angel. The Academy also presented an honorary award to Charles Chaplin; it would be the only honor the great actor and filmmaker would receive from the organization until 1972, when he returned to the United States for the first time in two decades to accept another honorary award.

Starting with the following year’s awards, the Academy began releasing the names of the winners to the press on the night of the awards ceremony to preserve some suspense. That practice ended in 1940, after the Los Angeles Times published the results in its evening edition, which meant they were revealed before the ceremony. The Academy then instituted a system of sealed envelopes, which remains in use today.

On this day in 1913, Woody Herman is born:

On this date Woody Herman was born in Milwaukee. A child prodigy, Herman sang and tap-danced in local clubs before touring as a singer on the vaudeville circuit. He played in various dance bands throughout the 20s and 30s and by 1944 was leading a band eventually known as the First Herd. In 1946, the band played an acclaimed concert at Carnegie Hall but disbanded at the end of the year. The following year, Herman returned to performing with the Second Herd that included a powerful saxophone section comprised of Herbie Steward, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Serge Chaloff. He died in 1987. [Source: WoodyHerman.com].

A Google a Day asks a question about art: “While lead architect of the new St. Peter’s project, what was Michelangelo’s design contribution to the project?”

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in town will be mostly sunny with a high of fifty-eight. Sunrise is 5:30 AM and sunset 8:11 PM, for 14h 41m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 67.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW poll asked readers whether they thought Budweiser would see a sales gain from temporarily relabeling their beer from Budweiser to America. A majority of respondents (76%) thought that there would be no sales advantage in doing so.

On 5.15.1911, the U.S. Supreme Court orders, under the Sherman Act, the dissolution of Standard Oil within six months. The New York Times reported the news to readers:

Washington, May 15 — Final decision was returned late this afternoon by the Supreme Court of the United States in one of the two great trust cases which have been before it for so long — that of the Standard Oil Company. The decree of the Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit directing the dissolution of the Oil Trust was affirmed, with minor modifications in two particulars. So far as the judgment of the court is concerned the action was unanimous, but Justice Harlan dissented from the argument on which the judgment was based.

The two modifications of the decree of the Circuit Court are that the period for execution of the decree is extended from thirty days to six months, and the injunction against engaging in inter-State commerce on petroleum and its products pending the execution of the decree is vacated. This latter modification is made distinctly in consideration of the serious injury to the public which might result from the absolute cessation of that business for such a time.

Broadly speaking, the court determines against the Standard Oil Company on the ground that it is a combination in unreasonable restraint of inter-State commerce….

Also in 1911, on 5.15, Janesville’s city council moved to rid that city of fortune tellers:

1911 – Janesville Prohibits Fortune Tellers
On this date the Janesville City Council proposed ordinances banning fortune tellers and prohibiting breweries from operating bars in the city. For more on Wisconsin brewing history, see the Brewing and Prohibition page at Turning Points in Wisconsin History. [Source: Janesville Gazette].