Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of forty-one. Sunrise is 6:57 AM and sunset is 7:07 PM, 12h 10m 05s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 85.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1979, a new channel launches:

C-SPAN was launched on March 19, 1979,^[10] in time for the first televised session made available by the House of Representatives, beginning with a speech by then-Tennessee representative Al Gore.^[11][12] Upon its debut, only 3.5 million homes were wired for C-SPAN,^[13] and the network had just three employees.^[14] The second C-SPAN channel, C-SPAN2, followed on June 2, 1986 when the U.S. Senate permitted itself to be televised.^[15][16] C-SPAN3, the most recent expansion channel, began full-time operations on January 22, 2001,^[17] and shows other public policy and government-related live events on weekdays along with weekend historical programming.^[5] C-SPAN3 is the successor of a digital channel called C-SPAN Extra, which was launched in the Washington D.C. area in 1997, and televised live and recorded political events from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday.^[17][18]

C-SPAN Radio began operations on October 9, 1997, covering similar events as the television networks and often simulcasting their programming.^[19] The station broadcasts on WCSP (90.1 FM) in Washington, D.C., is also available on XM Satellite Radio channel 120 and is streamed live at c-span.org.^[1] It was formerly available on Sirius Satellite Radio from 2002 to 2006.^[20]

Lamb semi-retired in March 2012, coinciding with the channel’s 33rd anniversary, and gave executive control of the network to his two lieutenants, Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain.^[21]

On this day in 1865, Wisconsinites fight at Goldsborough:

1865 – (Civil War) Battle of Goldsborough, North Carolina, Begins

The 21st, 22nd and 25th Wisconsin Infantry regiments took part in the battle at Goldsborough, North Carolina, during the Campaign of the Carolinas. Three Union armies totaling 100,000 men attacked the city in order to control its strategically important railroad lines.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday in town will be cloudy with a high of forty. Sunrise is 6:58 AM and sunset 7:06 PM, for 12h 07m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 78.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1766, Parliament repeals the Stamp Act:

The Stamp Act was passed on March 22, 1765, leading to an uproar in the colonies over an issue that was to be a major cause of the Revolution: taxation without representation. Enacted in November 1765, the controversial act forced colonists to buy a British stamp for every official document they obtained. The stamp itself displayed an image of a Tudor rose framed by the word “America” and the French phrase Honi soit qui mal y pense–“Shame to him who thinks evil of it.”

The colonists, who had convened the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765 to vocalize their opposition to the impending enactment, greeted the arrival of the stamps with outrage and violence. Most Americans called for a boycott of British goods, and some organized attacks on the customhouses and homes of tax collectors. After months of protest, and an appeal by Benjamin Franklin before the British House of Commons, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act in March 1766. However, the same day, Parliament passed the Declaratory Acts, asserting that the British government had free and total legislative power over the colonies.

On this day in 1953, a Major League team announces a move:

1953 – Braves Move to Milwaukee
On this date the Braves baseball team announced that they were moving from Boston to Milwaukee. [Source: The History Net]

JigZone ends the week with a puzzle of a plant:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be partly cloudy and windy with a high of fifty. Sunrise is 7 AM and sunset 7:04 PM, for 12h 04m 13s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 68.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1776, Britain leaves Boston:

During the evening of March 4, American Brigadier General John Thomas, under orders from Washington, secretly led a force of 800 soldiers and 1,200 workers to Dorchester Heights and began fortifying the area. To cover the sound of the construction, American cannons, besieging Boston from another location, began a noisy bombardment of the outskirts of the city. By the morning, more than a dozen cannons from Fort Ticonderoga had been brought within the Dorchester Heights fortifications. British General Sir William Howe hoped to use the British ships in Boston Harbor to destroy the American position, but a storm set in, giving the Americans ample time to complete the fortifications and set up their artillery. Realizing their position was now indefensible, 11,000 British troops and some 1,000 Loyalists departed Boston by ship on March 17, sailing to the safety of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The bloodless liberation of Boston by the Patriots brought an end to a hated eight-year British occupation of the city, known for such infamous events as the “Boston Massacre,” in which five colonists were shot and killed by British soldiers. The British fleet had first entered Boston Harbor on October 2, 1768, carrying 1,000 soldiers. Having soldiers living among them in tents on Boston Common–a standing army in 18th-century parlance–infuriated Bostonians.

For the victory, General Washington, commander of the Continental Army, was presented with the first medal ever awarded by the Continental Congress.

On this day in 1941, Milwaukee’s airport gets its current name:

1941 – General Mitchell Field Named
On this date Milwaukee’s airport was named to honor the city’s famous air-power pioneer, General William Mitchell. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

Today’s puzzle from JigZone is of a ski run:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Midweek in Whitewater will be rainy and windy with a high of fifty-one. Sunrise is 7:02 AM and sunset 7:03 PM for 12h 01m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 58.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

It’s James Madison’s birthday:

James Madison, Jr. (March 16, [O.S. March 5] 1751 – June 28, 1836) was a political theorist, American statesman, and served as the fourth President of the United States (1809–17). He is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.^[2]

Madison inherited his plantation Montpelier in Virginia and owned hundreds of slaves during his lifetime. He served as both a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and as a member of theContinental Congress prior to the Constitutional Convention. After the Convention, he became one of the leaders in the movement to ratify it, both nationally and in Virginia. His collaboration withAlexander Hamilton and John Jay produced The Federalist Papers, among the most important treatises in support of the Constitution. Madison changed his political views during his life. During deliberations on the constitution, he favored a strong national government, but later preferred stronger state governments, before settling between the two extremes late in his life.

In 1789, Madison became a leader in the new House of Representatives, drafting many basic laws. He is noted for drafting the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and thus is known also as the “Father of the Bill of Rights”.^[3] He worked closely with President George Washington to organize the new federal government. Breaking with Hamilton and the Federalist Party in 1791, he and Thomas Jefferson organized the Democratic-Republican Party.

JigZone‘s puzzle for today is of a butterfly fish:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday brings thunderstorms to the city, with a high of fifty-two degrees. Sunrise is 7:07 and sunset 7:02, for 11h 58m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 48.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1783, Washington acts to quell unrest among officers:

On the morning of March 15, 1783, General George Washington makes a surprise appearance at an assembly of army officers at Newburgh, New York, to calm the growing frustration and distrust they had been openly expressing towards Congress in the previous few weeks. Angry with Congress for failing to honor its promise to pay them and for its failure to settle accounts for repayment of food and clothing, officers began circulating an anonymous letter condemning Congress and calling for a revolt.

When word of the letter and its call for an unsanctioned meeting of officers reached him, Washington issued a general order forbidding any unsanctioned meetings and called for a general assembly of officers for March 15. At the meeting, Washington began his speech to the officers by saying, “Gentlemen: By an anonymous summons, an attempt has been made to convene you together; how inconsistent with the rules of propriety! How unmilitary! And how subversive of all order and discipline…”

Washington continued by pledging, “to exert whatever ability I am possessed of, in your favor.” He added, “Let me entreat you, gentlemen, on your part, not to take any measures, which viewed in the calm light of reason, will lessen the dignity, and sully the glory you have hitherto maintained; let me request you to rely on the plighted faith of your country, and place a full confidence in the purity of the intentions of Congress.”

JigZone‘s puzzle for today is a 67-piece venus fly trap: