Good morning, Whitewater.

Monday brings a rainy morning, with gradual clearing and a high of sixty-four. Sunrise is 6:15 and sunset 7:35, for 13h 19m 55s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 35.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

At 3:30 PM, a city committee meets to consider Bicycle and Pedestrian System Way Finding. Later, at 6:30 PM, Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets.

On this day in 1743, Thomas Jefferson is born:

The third of ten children, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743 OS) at the family home, in a one and a half story farmhouse in Shadwell, not far from Richmond and the Virginia wilderness. According to his autobiography, Jefferson’s earliest memory was being handed to a slave on horseback and carried 50 miles away to their new home which overlooked the Rivanna River, Goochland County, Virginia, now part of Albemarle County. Much of his correspondence to relatives makes mention of this memory. His father was Peter Jefferson, a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen, never getting the chance to measure up to him as an adult. Jefferson’s facial appearance resembled that of his father, but his slim physical form resembled that of his mother’s family.^[2] He was of English and possible Welsh descent, although this remains unclear.^[3] His mother was Jane Randolph, daughter of Isham Randolph, a ship’s captain and sometime planter. Peter and Jane married in 1739.^[4] Thomas Jefferson showed little interest in learning about his ancestry; on his father’s side he only knew of the existence of his grandfather.^[2][3][5][b]

Before the widower William Randolph, an old friend of Peter Jefferson, died in 1745, he appointed Peter as guardian to manage his Tuckahoe Plantation and care for his four children. That year the Jeffersons relocated to Tuckahoe, where they lived for the next seven years before returning to Shadwell in 1752. Peter Jefferson died in 1757 and the Jefferson estate was divided between Peter’s two sons, Thomas and Randolph.^[6] Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres (2,000 ha; 7.8 sq mi) of land, including Monticello, and between 20 and 40 slaves. He took control of the property after he came of age at 21. The precise amount of land and number of slaves that Jefferson inherited is estimated.^[7]

Puzzability has a new, geography-themed series this week:

This Week’s Game — April 13-17

Capital Gains

We’ve got filers all over the globe this week. For each day, we’ve taken the name of a world capital, added a letter, and scrambled all the letters to get a new word that is a type of person or people. The answer phrase, described by each day’s clue, is the capital followed by the longer word. The clue includes the lengths of the answer words in parentheses.

Example:

Simpletons from Scandinavia (4,5)

Answer:

Oslo fools

What to Submit:

Submit the phrase, with the capital first (as “Oslo fools” in the example), for your answer.

Monday, April 13

One eschewing clothing from northern Africa (5,6)

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday brings a high of sixty-seven, and a one-fifth chance of afternoon showers. Sunrise is 6:16 and sunset 7:34, for 13h 17m 07s. The moon is a waning crescent with 46.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

The latest FW poll asked readers whether they thought Godzilla would be a good tourism ambassador for Japan. Over two-thirds of respondents thought that he would.

On this day in 1861, Confederate artillery opens fire on Fort Sumter, beginning fighting during the Civil War:

On Friday, April 12, 1861, at 4:30 a.m., Confederate batteries opened fire, firing for 34 straight hours, on the fort. Edmund Ruffin, noted Virginian agronomist and secessionist, claimed that he fired the first shot on Fort Sumter. His story has been widely believed, but Lieutenant Henry S. Farley, commanding a battery of two 10 inch siege mortars on James Island fired the first shot at 4:30 A.M. (Detzer 2001, pp. 269–71). No attempt was made to return the fire for more than two hours. The fort’s supply of ammunition was not suited for the task; also, there were no fuses for their explosive shells, which means that they could not explode. Only solid iron balls could be used against the Rebel batteries. At about 7:00 A.M., Captain Abner Doubleday, the fort’s second in command, was given the honor of firing the Union’s first shot, in defense of the fort. He missed, in part because Major Anderson did not use the guns mounted on the highest tier, the barbette tier (where the guns could engage the confederate batteries better), where the gunners would be more exposed to Confederate fire. The firing continued all day. The Union fired slowly to conserve ammunition. At night the fire from the fort stopped, but the Confederates still lobbed an occasional shell into Sumter. On Saturday, April 13, the fort was surrendered and evacuated. During the attack, the Union colors fell. Lt. Norman J. Hall risked life and limb to put them back up, burning off his eyebrows permanently. A Confederate soldier bled to death having been wounded by a misfiring cannon. One Union soldier died and another was mortally wounded during the 47th shot of a 100 shot salute, allowed by the Confederacy. Afterwards the salute was shortened to 50 shots. Accounts, such as in the famous diary of Mary Chesnut, describe Charleston residents along what is now known as The Battery, sitting on balconies and drinking salutes to the start of the hostilities.

The Fort Sumter Flag became a popular patriotic symbol after Major Anderson returned North with it. The flag is still displayed in the fort’s museum. A supply ship Star of the West took all the garrison members to New York City. There they were welcomed and honored with a parade on Broadway.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday in town will be sunny with a high of sixty-two. Sunrise is 6:18 and sunset is 7:32, for 13h 14m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 57.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1814, Napoleon is exiled to Elba, although he returns to make more trouble shortly thereafter:

In 1812, thinking that Russia was plotting an alliance with England, Napoleon launched an invasion against the Russians that eventually ended with his troops retreating from Moscow and much of Europe uniting against him. In 1814, Napoleon’s broken forces gave up and Napoleon offered to step down in favor of his son. When this offer was rejected, he abdicated and was sent to Elba.

In March 1815, he escaped his island exile and returned to Paris, where he regained supporters and reclaimed his emperor title, Napoleon I, in a period known as the Hundred Days. However, in June 1815, he was defeated at the bloody Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon’s defeat ultimately signaled the end of France’s domination of Europe. He abdicated for a second time and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he lived out the rest of his days. He died at age 52 on May 5, 1821, possibly from stomach cancer, although some theories contend he was poisoned.

Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ll have an even chance of afternoon showers, on an otherwise cloudy day. Sunrise is 6:20 and sunset 7:31, for 13h 11m 29s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 68.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

It’s the birthday of the ASPCA:

On April 10, 1866, 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.

Bergh was a hands-on reformer, becoming a familiar sight on the streets and in the courtrooms of New York. He regularly inspected slaughter houses, worked with police to close down dog- and rat-fighting pits and lectured in schools and to adult societies. In 1867, the ASPCA established and operated the nation’s first ambulance for horses.

As the pioneer and innovator of the humane movement, the ASPCA quickly became the model for more than 25 other humane organizations in the United States and Canada. And by the time Bergh died in 1888, 37 of the 38 states in the Union had passed anti-cruelty laws.

Bergh’s dramatic street rescues of mistreated horses and livestock served as a model for those trying to protect abused children. After Mary Ellen McCormack, 9, was found tied to a bed and brutally beaten by her foster parents in 1874, activists founded the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Bergh served as one of the group’s first vice presidents.

Here’s the final game in Puzzability‘s Cross Talk series:

This Week’s Game — April 6-10

Cross Talk

We expect to have a series of guessed hosts this week at the Daily Post. For each day, we’ll give a three-by-three letter grid in which we’ve hidden the name of a TV talk show host with 10 or more letters. To find the name, start at any letter and move from letter to letter by traveling to any adjacent letter—across, up and down, or diagonally. You may come back to a letter you’ve used previously, but may not stay in the same spot twice in a row. You will not always need all nine letters in the grid.

Example:

Answer:

Jimmy Kimmel

What to Submit:

Submit the host’s name (as “Jimmy Kimmel” in the example) for your answer.

Friday, April 10

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday will be a day of thunderstorms in town, with a high of sixty-eight. Sunrise is 6:21 and sunset 7:30, for 13h 08m 39s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 76.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Alcohol & Licensing Committee meets at 6 PM, and her Common Council at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1865, Gen. Lee surrenders to Gen. Grant in Virginia:

War Department, Washington, April 9, 1865- 9 o’clock P.M.
This department has received the official report of the SURRENDER, THIS DAY, OF GEN. LEE AND HIS ARMY TO LIEUT. GRANT, on the terms proposed by Gen. Grant.
Details will be given as speedily as possible.
Edwin M. Stanton,
Secretary of War.

---

Headquarters Armies of the United States, 4:30 P.M., April 9.

Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
GEN. LEE SURRENDERED THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA THIS AFTERNOON, upon the terms proposed by myself. The accompanying additional correspondence will show the conditions fully.
(signed)
U.S. Grant, Lieut. Gen’l.

---

Sunday April 9, 1865,
General- I received your note of this morning, on the picket line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your preposition of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army.
I now request an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. E. Lee, General.

---

To Lieut.-Gen. Grant, Commanding United States Armies.
Sunday, April 9, 1865
Gen. R. E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Armies.
Your note of this date is set this moment, 11:50 A.M., received.
In consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburgh road to the Farmville and Lynchburgh road, I am at this writing about four miles West of Walter’s church, and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you.
Notice sent to me, on this road, where you wish the interview to take place, will meet me.
Very respectfully, your ob’d’t servant,
U.S. Grant,
Lieutenant-General

---

Court House, April 9, 1865.
General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A.:
In accordance with the substance of my letters to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit:
Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officers as you may designate.
The officers to give their individual paroles not to take arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands.
The arms, artillery and public property to be packed an stacked and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them.
This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage.
This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they reside.
Very respectfully,
U.S. Grant, Lieutenant-General.

---

Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,
April 9, 1865
Lieut. Gen. U.S. Grant, Commanding U.S.A.:
General: I have received your letter of this date, containing the terms of surrender of the army of northern Virginia, as proposed by you; As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry stipulations late effect.
Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant, R. E. Lee, General.

Soldiers from Wisconsin, defending the United States, were present at Appomattox that day:

Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant caught up with Confederate forces commanded by General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The 5th, 6th, 7th, 19th, 36th, 37th and 38th Wisconsin Infantry regiments were among the troops that had helped corner the enemy there. The 36th were present at the court house and witnessed the formal surrender ceremony.

Puzzability‘s Cross Talk series continues with Thursday’s game:

This Week’s Game — April 6-10

Cross Talk

We expect to have a series of guessed hosts this week at the Daily Post. For each day, we’ll give a three-by-three letter grid in which we’ve hidden the name of a TV talk show host with 10 or more letters. To find the name, start at any letter and move from letter to letter by traveling to any adjacent letter—across, up and down, or diagonally. You may come back to a letter you’ve used previously, but may not stay in the same spot twice in a row. You will not always need all nine letters in the grid.

Example:

Answer:

Jimmy Kimmel

What to Submit:

Submit the host’s name (as “Jimmy Kimmel” in the example) for your answer.

Thursday, April 9

Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ll have a cloudy Wednesday, with a high of fifty, and a likelihood of rain tonight. Sunrise is 6:23 and sunset 7:29, for 13h 05m 49s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 85.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1974, Hank Aaron sets a new 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. However, as Aaron was an African American who had received death threats and racist hate mail during his pursuit of one of baseball’s most distinguished records, the achievement was bittersweet.

Henry Louis Aaron Jr., born in Mobile, Alabama, on February 5, 1934, made his Major League debut in 1954 with the Milwaukee Braves, just eight years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and became the first African American to play in the majors. Aaron, known as hard working and quiet, was the last Negro league player to also compete in the Major Leagues. In 1957, with characteristically little fanfare, Aaron, who primarily played right field, was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player as the Milwaukee Braves won the pennant. A few weeks later, his three home runs in the World Series helped his team triumph over the heavily favored New York Yankees. Although “Hammerin’ Hank” specialized in home runs, he was also an extremely dependable batter, and by the end of his career he held baseball’s career record for most runs batted in: 2,297.

Aaron’s playing career spanned three teams and 23 years. He was with the Milwaukee Braves from 1954 to 1965, the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 1974 and the Milwaukee Brewers from 1975 to 1976. He hung up his cleats in 1976 with 755 career home runs and went on to become one of baseball’s first African-American executives, with the Atlanta Braves, and a leading spokesperson for minority hiring. Hank Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Here’s the Wednesday game in Puzzability‘s Cross Talk series:

This Week’s Game — April 6-10

Cross Talk

We expect to have a series of guessed hosts this week at the Daily Post. For each day, we’ll give a three-by-three letter grid in which we’ve hidden the name of a TV talk show host with 10 or more letters. To find the name, start at any letter and move from letter to letter by traveling to any adjacent letter—across, up and down, or diagonally. You may come back to a letter you’ve used previously, but may not stay in the same spot twice in a row. You will not always need all nine letters in the grid.

Example:

Answer:

Jimmy Kimmel

What to Submit:

Submit the host’s name (as “Jimmy Kimmel” in the example) for your answer.

Wednesday, April 8