Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in town will be rainy with a high of fifty-one. Sunrise is 6:18 AM and sunset 7:32 PM, for 13h 13m 37s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 13.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW poll asked whether a video of an object in the Thames was of a sea monster, an ordinary animal, or a man-made object. Respondents were divided between a man-made object (36.73%), a sea monster (34.69%), and an ordinary animal (28.57%).

Today is the anniversary of the ASPCA‘s founding:

…the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by philanthropist and diplomat Henry Bergh, 54.

In 1863, Bergh had been appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to a diplomatic post at the Russian court of Czar Alexander II. It was there that he was horrified to witness work horses beaten by their peasant drivers. En route back to America, a June 1865 visit to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in London awakened his determination to secure a charter not only to incorporate the ASPCA but to exercise the power to arrest and prosecute violators of the law.

Back in New York, Bergh pleaded on behalf of “these mute servants of mankind” at a February 8, 1866, meeting at Clinton Hall. He argued that protecting animals was an issue that crossed party lines and class boundaries. “This is a matter purely of conscience; it has no perplexing side issues,” he said. “It is a moral question in all its aspects.” The speech prompted a number of dignitaries to sign his “Declaration of the Rights of Animals.”
Bergh’s impassioned accounts of the horrors inflicted on animals convinced the New York State legislature to pass the charter incorporating the ASPCA on April 10, 1866. Nine days later, the first effective anti-cruelty law in the United States was passed, allowing the ASPCA to investigate complaints of animal cruelty and to make arrests….

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday in town will be mostly sunny with a high of thirty-nine. Sunrise is 6:20 AM and sunset 7:31 PM, for 13h 10m 48s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 6.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully accomplished for the first time the landing of a rocket on a barge at sea, in an effort to make space travel cheaper by reusing expensive rockets:

Onboard view of landing in high winds pic.twitter.com/FedRzjYYyQ

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 9, 2016

For more on this accomplishment, see SpaceX just successfully landed its rocket on a barge in the ocean.

On this day in 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders his army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.

U.S. Sec. of War Stanton sent the following message to Gen. Grant that evening:

War Department, Washington, D. C., April 9, 1865- 9:30 P.M.
Lieut.-Gen. Grant:

Thanks be to almighty God for the great victory with which he has this day crowned you and the gallant armies under your command.
The thanks of this Department and of the Government, and of the People of the United States- their reverence and honor have been deserved- will be rendered to you and the brave and gallant officers and soldiers of your army for all time.

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.

On 4.9.1898, a famous Wisconsin athlete and team founder is born:

1898 – Curly Lambeau Born
On this date Earl “Curly” Lambeau, founder, player, coach, and vice president of the Green Bay Packers, was born in Green Bay. He founded the Packers in 1919 and served as the team’s only coach through the 1949 season. Lambeau led the Packers to six world championships and is one of only five coaches to record more than 200 coaching victories in the NFL (others are Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry and Chuck Noll). Curly Lambeau died on June 1, 1965, at the age of 67. [Source: Packers history pages]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday will see light snow in Whitewater, with a high of thirty-eight.  Sunrise is 6:22 AM and sunset 7:30 PM, for 13h 07m 59s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 1.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1974, a new home run record —

…Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714 homers. A crowd of 53,775 people, the largest in the history of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was with Aaron that night to cheer when he hit a 4th inning pitch off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Al Downing….

On April 8, 1905, Wisconsin does what no one else in America had done previously:

1905 – First High School Basketball Tournament
On this date Fond du Lac won the Lawrence College Invitational, the first high school basketball tournament held not only in Wisconsin, but in the United States. [Source: Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association]

A Google a Day asks a question about space:

In the 219th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, what planet’s borders were said to be recognizable from space?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday brings a probability of light snow showers to Whitewater, with a high of forty-five later in the day. Sunrise is 6:24 AM and sunset 7:29 PM, for 13h 05m 08s of daytime. We’ve a new moon today.

Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.

On 4.7.1776, an American naval victory over England:

…Navy Captain John Barry, commander of the American warship Lexington, makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward and its cargo turned Captain Barry into a national hero and boosted the morale of the Continental forces….

Barry’s outstanding career has been memorialized on both sides of the Atlantic. A bridge bearing his name crosses the Delaware River, and Brooklyn, New York, is home to a park named for him. In addition, four U.S. Navy ships and a building at Villanova University carry his name, and statues in his honor stand in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and his birthplace, Wexford, Ireland. On September 13, 1981, President Ronald Reagan declared Commodore John Barry Day to honor a man he called one of the earliest and greatest American patriots, a man of great insight who perceived very early the need for American power on the sea.

4.7.1970 marks a first:

1970 – The Milwaukee Brewers’ First Game
On this date the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the many organized sports teams in Wisconsin, played their first game against the California Angels in front of 37,237 enthusiastic fans at County Stadium. [Source: Brewers’ History page]

A Google a Day asks a sports question:

The youngest recipient of the NBA MVP award joined which one of his “Bulls” teammates in receiving this honor?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Wednesday in town will be rainy with a high of fifty. Sunrise is 6:25 AM and sunset 7:27 PM, for 13h 02m 17s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets this evening at 6 PM.

On this day in 1896, the first modern Olympic Games began in Athens, lasting from April 6 to April 15th.

On this day in 1909, explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson became the first men to reach the North Pole. The claim was later confirmed by the Navigation Foundation in 1989.

The Wisconsin Historical Society records today as a day in 1831 when Wisconsin lost some of her original residents:

1831 – Sauk Indians Leave Illinois & Wisconsin

On this date, in the spring of 1831, the Sauk Indians led by Chief Keokuk left their ancestral home near the mouth of the Rock River and moved across the Mississippi River to Iowa to fulfill the terms of a treaty signed in 1804. Many of the tribe, however, believed the treaty to be invalid and the following spring, when the U.S. government failed to provide them with promised supplies, this dissatisfied faction led by Black Hawk returned to their homeland on the Rock River, precipitating the Black Hawk War. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

A Google a Day asks a geography question:

What’s the southernmost province of the country that occupies approximately one sixth of the Iberian Peninsula?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Election Day brings afternoon showers with a high of forty-five to Whitewater. Sunrise is 6:27 AM and sunset 7:26 PM, for 12h 59m 25s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 5.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

Just a quick update that the next education post will be next Tuesday, April 12th.

On this day in 1792 — the first presidential veto of legislation:

George Washington exercises the first presidential veto of a Congressional bill on this day in 1792. The bill introduced a new plan for dividing seats in the House of Representatives that would have increased the amount of seats for northern states. After consulting with his politically divided and contentious cabinet, Washington, who came from the southern state of Virginia, ultimately decided that the plan was unconstitutional because, in providing for additional representatives for some states, it would have introduced a number of representatives higher than that proscribed by the Constitution.

After a discussion with the president, Jefferson wrote in a letter that votes for or against the bill were divided along perfectly geographical lines between the North and South. Jefferson observed that Washington feared that a veto would incorrectly portray him as biased toward the South. In the end, Jefferson was able to convince the president to veto the bill on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and introduced principles that were liable to be abused in the future. Jefferson suggested apportionment instead be derived from arithmetical operation, about which no two men can ever possibly differ.” Washington’s veto sent the bill back to Congress. Though representatives could have attempted to overrule the veto with a two-thirds vote, Congress instead threw out the original bill and instituted a new one that apportioned representatives at “the ratio of one for every thirty-three thousand persons in the respective States.”

Washington exercised his veto power only one other time during his two terms in office. In February 1797, the former commanding general of the Continental Army vetoed an act that would have reduced the number of cavalry units in the army.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1860,

Wisconsin Congressman Challenged to Duel

On this date, with the threat of civil war hanging in the air, John F. Potter, a Wisconsin representative in Congress, was challenged to a duel by Virgina representative Roger Pryor. Potter, a Northern Republican, had become a target of Southerners during heated debates over slavery. After one exchange, Pryor challenged Potter to a duel and Potter, as the one challenged, specified that bowie knives be used at a distance of four feet. Pryor refused and Potter became famous in the anti-slavery movement. Two years later, when Republicans convened in Chicago, Potter was given a seven foot blade as a tribute; the knife hung with pride during all the sessions of the convention.  Before his death, Potter remembered the duel and proclaimed, “I felt it was a national matter – not any private quarrel – and I was willing to make sacrifices.” [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners, by Fred L. Holmes]

It makes our politics look almost tame.

A Google a Day asks a sports question:

With 8 Olympic gold medals, what Norwegian cross-country skier retired to become a TV host in his native country?