Good morning, Whitewater.

Wednesday brings partly cloudy skies and a high of thirty-one that will fall into the twenties by mid-afternoon. Sunrise is 6:56 and sunset 5:21, for 10h 25m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 56.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets at 10 AM today.

It’s Thomas Edison’s birthday:

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed “The Wizard of Menlo Park”,[3] he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.[4]

Edison was a prolific inventor, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. More significant than the number of Edison’s patents was the widespread impact of his inventions: electric light and power utilities, sound recording, and motion pictures all established major new industries world-wide. Edison’s inventions contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. These included a stock ticker, a mechanical vote recorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures.

His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison developed a system of electric-power generation and distribution[5] to homes, businesses, and factories – a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His first power station was on Pearl Street in Manhattan, New York.[5]

February 11, 1842 is a low point in Wisconsin’s legislative history:

1842 – Shooting in the Legislature
On this date the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin met in Madison, only to be interrupted by the shooting of one member by another. The legislature was debating the appointment of Enos S. Baker for sheriff of Grant County when Charles Arndt made a sarcastic remark about Baker’s colleague, James Vineyard. After an uproar, adjournment was declared and when Arndt approached Vineyard’s desk, a fight broke out during which Vineyard drew his revolver and shot Arndt. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes]

Here’s the Wednesday game from Puzzability:

This Week’s Game — February 9-13

Hearts and Letters

Naturally, there’s romance in the mix this Valentine’s week. For each day, we started with a word, added the eight letters in the words TRUE LOVE, and rearranged all the letters to get a new phrase. Both pieces are described in each day’s clue, with the shorter one first.

Example:

Pool length; track and field athlete with a long stick

Answer:

Lap; pole vaulter

What to Submit:

Submit both pieces, with the shorter one first (as “Lap; pole vaulter” in the example), for your answer.

Wednesday, February 11

Member of an ancient civilization known for its calendar; worth in dollars and cents, as of a coupon

Good morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday will be mostly cloudy with a high of twenty-seven. We will have a thirty-percent chance of sleet and freezing rain in the late afternoon. Sunrise is 6:57 and sunset 5:20, for 10h 22m 45s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 66.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Parks & Rec Board meets today at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1763, the Treaty of Paris means a new map for North America (and places far beyond):

The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Britain’s victory over France and Spain during the Seven Years’ War.
The signing of the treaty formally ended the Seven Years’ War, known as the French and Indian War in the North American theatre,[1] and marked the beginning of an era of British dominance outside Europe.[2] The two nations returned much of the territory that they had each captured during the war, but Britain gained much of France’s possessions in North America. Additionally, Britain agreed to protect Roman Catholicism in the New World. The treaty did not involve Prussia and Austria as they signed a separate agreement, the Treaty of Hubertusburg, five days later.

On this day in 1950, Sen. McCarthy keeps accusing:

1950 – McCarthy Continues Allegations
On this date, in a speech delivered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to possess the names of 57 U.S. government employees, actively engaged in Communist activities. [Source: Google Newspaper Archives]

Here is Puzzability‘s Tuesday game:

This Week’s Game — February 9-13

Hearts and Letters

Naturally, there’s romance in the mix this Valentine’s week. For each day, we started with a word, added the eight letters in the words TRUE LOVE, and rearranged all the letters to get a new phrase. Both pieces are described in each day’s clue, with the shorter one first.

Example:

Pool length; track and field athlete with a long stick

Answer:

Lap; pole vaulter

What to Submit:

Submit both pieces, with the shorter one first (as “Lap; pole vaulter” in the example), for your answer.

Tuesday, February 10

Polymath Pascal; second line of classic love doggerel

Good morning, Whitewater.

Monday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of twenty-seven. Having received reader replies in comments and email, I’ve decided not to switch the sunrise forecast to a twenty-four hour clock. We’ll stay conventional here at FW, at least in this regard. Sunrise is 6:58 and sunset 5:19, for 10h 20m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 75% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets tonight at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1943, America defeats Japan at Guadalcanal, with the United States making a formal announcement on success there:

Washington, Feb. 9 — The long and hard-fought battle for the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomons apparently has ended, Secretary of the navy Frank Knox said here today. His declaration, made at a press conference, was the first authoritative statement of a United States victory that has been indicated by the Navy communiqués for the past two or three weeks.

The conquest of this island, or specifically a few square miles of territory around Henderson Airfield on its northern shore, gives American forces undisputed possession both of the airfield and an excellent harbor near by, which becomes a threat to Japan’s major bases in the South Pacific. This conclusion was voiced by Secretary Knox.

The Secretary’s comment was inspired by a broadcast Japanese communiqué, which announced that units of troops had been withdrawn from Guadalcanal. Mr. Knox said this appeared to be correct. He added the speculative statement that possibly the sea action that was announced as occurring last week and the previous week in the Solomons, with some loss for our Navy, might have been precipitated by the Japanese to cover withdrawal of troops rather than as an attack on our forces.

On this day in 1870, the United States establishes a weather service:

1870 – National Weather Service Authorized
On this date President Ulysses S. Grant signed a joint resolution authorizing a National Weather Service, which had long been a dream of Milwaukee scientist Increase Lapham. Lapham, 19th-century Wisconsin’s premier natural scientist, proposed a national weather service after he mapped data contributed over telegraph lines in the UpperMidwest and realized that weather might be predicted in advance. He was concerned about avoiding potential disasters to Great Lakes shipping and Wisconsin farming, and his proposal was approved by Congress and authorized on this date. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

Here’s Puzzability‘s game for today:

This Week’s Game — February 9-13

Hearts and Letters

Naturally, there’s romance in the mix this Valentine’s week. For each day, we started with a word, added the eight letters in the words TRUE LOVE, and rearranged all the letters to get a new phrase. Both pieces are described in each day’s clue, with the shorter one first.

Example:

Pool length; track and field athlete with a long stick

Answer:

Lap; pole vaulter

What to Submit:

Submit both pieces, with the shorter one first (as “Lap; pole vaulter” in the example), for your answer.

Monday, February 9

All-in-one Apple products; syrupy versions of songs you hear as you travel between floors

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in town will be cloudy, with a high of thirty-three, and bring freezing rain & sleet in the afternoon. Sunrise is 7 AM and sunset 5:17 PM, for 10h 17m 32s of daytime. (A journalist recently told me that using AM and PM for sunrise & sunset was unnecessary, as sunrise is always in the morning and sunset always after midday. True enough; I’ll adjust after today by either abandoning AM and PM or using a twenty-four hour measurement.)

Two-thirds of respondents to Friday’s FW poll thought that Jimmy the Groundhog (of Sun Prairie) was justified in nipping the ear of that city’s mayor on Groundhog Day.

Quite the xylophonist:

On this day in 1858, a Wisconsin representative starts a fight in Congress:

Just before the Civil War, the issue of slavery tore apart the U.S. Congress. On February 8, 1858, Wisconsin Rep. John Potter (considered a backwoods hooligan by Southern aristocrats) leaped into a fight on the House floor. When Potter embarrassed a pro-slavery brawler by pulling off his wig, the gallery shouted that he’d taken a Southern scalp. Potter emerged from the melee covered in blood and marked by slave owners as an enemy.

Two years later, on April 5, 1860, he accused Virginia Rep. Roger Pryor of falsifying the Congressional record. Pryor, feeling his character impugned, challenged Potter to a duel. According to Southern custom, a person challenged had the right to choose weapons. Potter replied that he would only fight with “Bowie knives in a closed room,” and his Southern challenger beat a hasty retreat. Republican supporters around the nation sent Potter Bowie knives as a tribute, including this six-foot-long one. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday brings a day of partly sunny skies with a high of thirty-seven to the Whippet City. Sunrise today is 7:01 AM and sunset 5:16 PM, for 10h 14m 57s of daytime.

On this day in 1964, the Beatles arrive:

On February 7, 1964, Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight 101 from London Heathrow lands at New York’s Kennedy Airport–and “Beatlemania” arrives. It was the first visit to the United States by the Beatles, a British rock-and-roll quartet that had just scored its first No. 1 U.S. hit six days before with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” At Kennedy, the “Fab Four”–dressed in mod suits and sporting their trademark pudding bowl haircuts–were greeted by 3,000 screaming fans who caused a near riot when the boys stepped off their plane and onto American soil.

Two days later, Paul McCartney, age 21, Ringo Starr, 23, John Lennon, 23, and George Harrison, 20, made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety show. Although it was difficult to hear the performance over the screams of teenage girls in the studio audience, an estimated 73 million U.S. television viewers, or about 40 percent of the U.S. population, tuned in to watch. Sullivan immediately booked the Beatles for two more appearances that month. The group made their first public concert appearance in the United States on February 11 at the Coliseum in Washington, D.C., and 20,000 fans attended. The next day, they gave two back-to-back performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and police were forced to close off the streets around the venerable music hall because of fan hysteria. On February 22, the Beatles returned to England.

On this day in 1867, Laura Ingalls Wilder is born:

Wisconsin’s most famous children’s author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, was born this day near Pepin. Although her family moved away a year later, it subsequently returned in 1870 and remained until 1874. It is this period that is immortalized in her first book, Little House in the Big Woods.