Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of forty-nine. Sunrise is 6:19 and sunset 5:51, for 11h 32m 11s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 8.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW poll asked whether readers favored or disfavored the idea of a beer spa. Most respondents liked the idea (64.71% liked it; 34.29% disfavored it).

On the day in 1899, Bayer patents aspirin:

…the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin registers Aspirin, the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, on behalf of the German pharmaceutical company Friedrich Bayer & Co.

Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets, acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient, salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to doctors since the mid-19thcentury, it was used sparingly due to its unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.

In 1897, Bayer employee Felix Hoffman found a way to create a stable form of the drug that was easier and more pleasant to take. (Some evidence shows that Hoffman’s work was really done by a Jewish chemist, Arthur Eichengrun, whose contributions were covered up during the Nazi era.) After obtaining the patent rights, Bayer began distributing aspirin in powder form to physicians to give to their patients one gram at a time. The brand name came from “a” for acetyl, “spir” from the spirea plant (a source of salicin) and the suffix “in,” commonly used for medications. It quickly became the number-one drug worldwide.

On this day in 1862, the 4th Wisconsin to the Deep South:

1862 – The 4th Wisconsin Cavalry Heads South

On this date, the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry (then an infantry unit) embarked to join the “Army of the Gulf.” It arrived below New Orleans on March 12, 1862, and landed in New Orleans on May 1. The 4th was at once assigned to active service and joined an expedition up the Mississippi River against Vicksburg in May. By June they occupied Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The troops there were employed in several successful expeditions during that winter, and remained in the area through most of the war. In June of 1862, its commander was punished for refusing to return escaping slaves to their masters (more information on this event is at Turning Points in Wisconsin History). In 1863 the unit was equipped as a Cavalry Regiment; it returned to Wisconsin in 1866. Read more about it in Charles Estabrook’s guide to Wisconsin in the Civil War.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Morning flurries will give way to a cloudy day with a high of thirty-eight in town. Sunrise is 6:21 and sunset 5:50, for 11h 29m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 16% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1963, inventors receive a patent for a now-famous toy:

…the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company’s co-founder, Arthur “Spud” Melin. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone.

In 1948, friends Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr founded a company in California to sell a slingshot they created to shoot meat up to falcons they used for hunting. The company’s name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. Wham-O eventually branched out from slingshots, selling boomerangs and other sporting goods. Its first hit toy, a flying plastic disc known as the Frisbee, debuted in 1957. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on America’s fascination with UFOs.

Melina and Knerr were inspired to develop the Hula-Hoop after they saw a wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around their waists during gym class. Wham-O began producing a plastic version of the hoop, dubbed “Hula” after the hip-gyrating Hawaiian dance of the same name, and demonstrating it on Southern California playgrounds. Hula-Hoop mania took off from there.

On this day in 1935, Baby Doe, who wasn’t a baby, passes away:

1935 – Elizabeth “Baby Doe” McCourt Dies
On this date, the controversial wife of Horace (H.A.W.) Tabor, silver mine owner during the 19th century Colorado gold and silver booms, died. Born Elizabeth Bondeul McCourt in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1854, she was first married to Harvey Doe, Jr. of Oshkosh but in 1880 divorced him on the grounds of adultery. She then moved to Colorado where she married Leadville’s silver king, Horace Tabor. Despite great wealth, she died penniless and alone in Leadville: she froze to death in a cabin near the famous Matchless mine, which in its heyday had produced $10,000 worth of silver ore per day. Elizabeth and Horace are the subject of an American opera, “The Ballad of Baby Doe”. [Sources: http://www.babydoetabor.com/ and http://www.coloradohistory.com/ch-stories/tabor/index.htm]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of thirty-seven. We’ve a probability of light snow, about an inch in accumulation, this evening. Sunrise is 6:23 and sunset 5:49, for 11h 26m 23s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 25.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

I’ll continue with more about the implications of Data Around Whitewater’s Size next week.

On this day in 1789, government under the U.S. Constitution begins:

The first session of the U.S. Congress is held in New York City as the U.S. Constitution takes effect. However, of the 22 senators and 59 representatives called to represent the 11 states who had ratified the document, only nine senators and 13 representatives showed up to begin negotiations for its amendment….

In February 1788, a compromise was reached in which Massachusetts and other states agreed to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would immediately be adopted. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, making it binding, and government under the U.S. Constitution was scheduled to begin on March 4, 1789.

On September 25, 1789, after several months of debate, the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution–the Bill of Rights–and sent them to the states for ratification. This action led to the eventual ratification of the Constitution by the last of the 13 original colonies: North Carolina and Rhode Island.

On this day in 1863, the 22nd Wisconsin fights for the Union:

1863 – (Civil War) Battle of Thompson’s Station, Tennessee
The 22nd Wisconsin Infantry fought in the Battle of Thompson’s Station, also known as the Battle of Spring Hill, approximately 30 miles south of Nashville, Tennessee.

JigZone ends the week with a flower-themed puzzle:

Good morning, Whitewater.

Snow flurries this morning will give way to cloudy skies and a high of thirty-three. Sunrise is 6:24 and sunset 5:48, for 11h 23m 29s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 34.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM today.

On this day in 1887, Helen Keller begins studying with someone who helps her better understand the world:

….Anne Sullivan begins teaching six-year-old Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing after a severe illness at the age of 19 months. Under Sullivan’s tutelage, including her pioneering “touch teaching” techniques, the previously uncontrollable Keller flourished, eventually graduating from college and becoming an international lecturer and activist. Sullivan, later dubbed “the miracle worker,” remained Keller’s interpreter and constant companion until the older woman’s death in 1936.

Industrialist Walter Kohler is born on this day in 1875:

On this date Walter Jodok Kohler was born in Sheboygan. An industrialist, Republican politician, and Wisconsin governor, Kohler was noted for conceiving and building Kohler Village, a planned community for employees of the Kohler Company outside Sheboygan. At an early age, he went to work for his father’s farm implement company. Upon his father’s death in 1900, he and his brothers assumed management of the firm, known after 1912 as The Kohler Co., which grew to be one of the largest of its kind in the nation. It pioneered production methods for plumbing equipment and enamelware, and today supports a museum showing its traditions to visitors. Kohler was also chairman of the board of the Vollrath Co., an officer of the Security National Bank in Sheboygan, and a regent of the University of Wisconsin from 1918 to 1924.

Kohler served one term as Wisconsin governor, from 1929 to 1931, but his chances for a second term were defeated when he lost the Republican gubernatorial nomination to Philip La Follette in 1930. Although successful for the bid in 1932, he was then defeated in the general election by Democrat Albert Schmedeman. Walter Kohler was often criticized by labor for his opposition to trade unions. In 1934, when his employees attempted to organize and join the A. F. L., Kohler refused to bargain with them. A violent strike ensued and on July 27, 1934, two people were killed. Kohler is remembered today for his civic services and firm control of one of the state’s most successful corporations during the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. He is also looked back upon by many conservatives as a predecessor who shared their values before the modern Republican Party had taken shape in Wisconsin.

Today’s JigZone puzzle is of a butterfly: