Good morning, Whitewater.

Leap Day in Whitewater will be partly cloudy and windy, with a high of forty-seven. Sunrise is 6:29 and sunset 5:44, for 11h 14m 49s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 63.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 2004, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King wins big:

Perhaps the most attention-grabbing, trailblazing performer in film in 2003 did not receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor–but he was honored nonetheless. The eerily lifelike quality of Gollum, the computer-generated (CG) creature who simpered and schemed his way through The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, remained one of the most awe-inspiring aspects of the trilogy’s final installment, The Return of the King. At the 76th Academy Awards ceremony, held on this day in 2004, the film won a record-tying 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director (Peter Jackson) and Best Visual Effects.

On this day in 1956, a prominent Wisconsin Republican passes away, after taking the party in a different direction:

1956 – Father of Modern Wisconsin Republican Party dies
On this day William J. Campbell, a major contributor the Wisconsin Republican Party, died at his home in Oshkosh. A lumber broker and former University of Wisconsin regent, Campbell never held public office, but was generally given credit for the founding of the Republican Voluntary Committee, the working party organization in the state. State Attorney General Vernon W. Thomson hailed Campbell as a “true political pioneer” for steering the selection of GOP candidates away from the “domination of Robert M. LaFollette, Sr.” An ardent opponent of the “nomination paper” method of endorsing candidates for office, Campbell founded the Republican Voluntary Committee in 1925, in large part as a means of circumventing state limitations on spending by the statutory Republican Party. [Source: Milwaukee Journal 2/29/1956, Section 2 p. 12]

It’s a tape measure puzzle today from JigZone:

Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ll have a mild Sunday with afternoon showers and a high of fifty-seven. Sunrise is 6:41 and sunset 5:43, for 11h 11m 57s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 72.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW poll asked readers which movie they favored in the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards ceremony tonight. Of the eight nominees, 29.27% of respondents chose The Revenant, 26.83% chose The Martian, 14.63% chose Bridge of Spies, with remaining contenders each receiving fewer than ten percent of responses.

Here’s schedule of posts for the week ahead, with other posts possible (if there are changes to these scheduled posts I’ll explain why):

• Today: DB, a post about UW-Whitewater and Title IX, evening post
• Monday: DB, weekly music post, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN post, evening post
• Tuesday: DB, weekly education post, evening post
• Wednesday: DB, weekly film post, a post on relative sizes among demographic groups, evening post
• Thursday: DB, a food post, a post on Whitewater’s economy, evening post
• Friday: DB, weekly poll, weekly cataloging, a post on Whitewater’s economy
• Saturday: DB, weekly Animation post, evening post

On this day in 1844, Pres. Tyler survives a shipboard explosion:

On February 28, she departed Alexandria, Virginia on a pleasure and demonstration cruise down the Potomac with President John Tyler, his Cabinet, former first lady Dolley Madison, and approximately four hundred guests on board. The guests viewed the firing of the ship’s guns and then retired below decks for lunch and refreshments. When they were summoned once more to view another test firing, the firing of Stockton’s Peacemaker caused the gun to burst, sending shrapnel into the crowd. Instantly killed were Secretary Upshur, Secretary Gilmer, Capt. Beverly Kennon, who was Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repairs, Virgil Maxcy of Maryland, who had served as Chargé d’Affaires to Belgium from 1837 to 1842, Colonel David Gardiner of New York, the father of Julia Gardiner (who afterwards became the President’s fiancée), the President’s valet, a black slave named Armistead, and two sailors. It also injured about 20 people, including Capt. Stockton. The President was unharmed, having been below decks when the gun exploded.[1] When Julia Gardiner, who was aboard, found out her father had died in the explosion she fainted, not waking up until Tyler was carrying her off the ship.[2]

Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ll have a mild Saturday with mostly sunny skies and a high of fifty-four. Sunrise is 6:32 and sunset 5:41 for 11h 09m 05s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 80.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1782, the British House of Commons votes against further war in America. Esmond Wright, in Franklin of Philadelphia, describes Britain’s position:

The surrender at Yorktown on October 17, 1781, and the loss of Cornwallis’s army, ended any remaining British hopes of victory on the American mainland. Defeats at the hands of the French in the West Indies in 1781 and early 1782 drove home to Britain the need for an end to hostilities. On February 27, 1782, the House of Commons voted against continuing the American war and authorized the government to make peace with the former colonies. The king threatened to abdicate. On March 20, North resigned and was succeeded by Rockingham, with Shelburne as the secretary of state responsible for colonial affairs, charged to open negotiations with the American peace commissioners.

On this day in 1904, Wisconsin loses her second state capitol building:

1904 – Second State Capitol Burns
On this date fire destroyed the second State Capitol building in Madison. On the evening of the 26th, the generator was turned off for the night. The only lights visible were two gas jets serving the night watchman. At approximately 2 a.m., night watchman Nat Crampton smelled smoke and followed the odor to a recently varnished ceiling, already in flames. A second watchman arrived to assist, but there was no water pressure with which to operate a hose. The fire department encountered a similar situation upon arrival. Governor Robert M. La Follette telegraphed fire departments in Janesville and Milwaukee for assistance. La Follette was at the capitol, directing efforts to douse the fire and entering the burning building to retrieve valuable papers. The fire was completely extinguished by 10 p.m. the next day. Losses were estimated to be close to $1 million.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday in town will be mostly cloudy with a high of thirty-six. Sunrise is 6:34 and sunset 5:40, for 11h 06m 14s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 87.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1917, Pres. Wilson learns of the Zimmermann Telegram:

In a crucial step toward U.S. entry into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson learns of the so-called Zimmermann Telegram, a message from German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador to Mexico proposing a Mexican-German alliance in the event of a war between the U.S. and Germany.

On February 24, 1917, British authorities gave Walter Hines Page, the U.S. ambassador to Britain, a copy of the Zimmermann Telegram, a coded message from Zimmermann to Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to Mexico. In the telegram, intercepted and deciphered by British intelligence in late January, Zimmermann instructed his ambassador, in the event of a German war with the United States, to offer significant financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to enter the conflict as a German ally. Germany also promised to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

The State Department promptly sent a copy of the Zimmermann Telegram to President Wilson, who was shocked by the note’s content and the next day proposed to Congress that the U.S. should start arming its ships against possible German attacks. Wilson also authorized the State Department to publish the telegram; it appeared on the front pages of American newspapers on March 1. Many Americans were horrified and declared the note a forgery; two days later, however, Zimmermann himself announced that it was genuine.

It’s a spiral ginger plant today from JigZone: