Good morning.

We’ll have a partly sunny Tuesday with a high of forty-four.

Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets this afternoon at 4:30 PM, and her Common Council at 7 PM.

On this day in 1797, a first – a successful parachute jump:

Google has changed the design of its homepage to celebrate Andre-Jacque Garnerin’s jump on October 22 1797 from a balloon above Parc Monceau in Paris.

The Frenchman used a seven-meter silk parachute resembling an umbrella to ease his path to the ground.

When Garnerin’s balloon reached 3,000 feet above the park, he cut his basket loose and opened the parachute.

Visitors to Google’s homepage can now recreate that leap using their right and left arrow keys to guide the path of their parachutist safely towards the ground.

The French daredevil emerged from the basked unscathed, despite it jerking in the air and a violent landing.

Garnerin became an international celebrity following the leap and was awarded the title of Official Aeronaut of France.

His wife, Jeanne Genevieve Labrosse, was also a balloonist and the first ever female parachutist. The couple visited England in the early 1800s and took part in several balloon flights while in the country.

On October 22, 1935, a Footville man wins again:

1938 – Footville Man Wins Husking Title
On this date Dick Post of Footville won his sixth county title by husking a record 24.5 bushels of corn in 80 minutes. Two days later, he husked 1,868 pounds in 80 minutes to win the state championship. Post finished fourth in the nationals at Sioux Falls, S.D. [Source: Janesville Gazette October 22, 1938, p.4]

Scientific American‘s daily trivia question asks about tourism. (Clicking on the question leads to its answer.)

What is a Heisenbug?

Good morning.

In Whitewater, we’ll have a mostly cloudy day with a high of forty-four. Sunrise today is 7:16 AM and sunset will be 6:03 PM. The moon is in a waning gibbous phase with 92% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1879, Thomas Edison invents the incandescent bulb. The New York Times later reported on Edison’s achievement, after a visit to Edison’s laboratory:

There was no lack of enthusiasm or of confidence about Mr. Edison as he greeted the Times reporter who entered his laboratory at Menlo Park, N. J., yesterday. The inventor, a short, thick-set man, with grimy hands, led the way through his workshop, and willingly explained the distinctive features of what he and many others look upon as an apparatus which will soon cause gas-light to be a thing of the past.

The lamp which Mr. Edison regards as a crowning triumph is a model of simplicity and economy.

In the lamp the light is emitted by a horseshoe of carbonized paper about two and a half inches long and the width of a thread. This horseshoe is in a glass globe, from which the air has been as thoroughly exhausted as science is able to do. So good a vacuum is produced that it is estimated that at the utmost no more than a one-millionth part of the air remains. The operation of pumping lasts one hour and a quarter.

At the ends of the carbon horseshoe are two platinum clamps, from which platinum wires run outwardly through a small glass tube contained within a larger one leading out of the glass globe. The small tube contains air. Within it the platinum wires are met by two copper wires connecting with the conductors of the electricity. The air is left in the small tube, because otherwise the copper wires would be fused by the electric current. The carbonized paper is capable of being made incandescent by a current of electricity, and while it allows the current to pass over it, its resistance to the heat is strong enough to prevent it from fusing.

On this day in Wisconsin history, a dedication:

1897 – Yerkes Observatory Dedicated
On this date the Yerkes Observatory was dedicated. Founded by astronomer George Hale and located in Williams Bay, the Yerkes Observatory houses the world’s largest refracting optical telescope, with a lens of diameter 102 cm/40 inches. It was built through the largess of the tycoon Charles Tyson Yerkes, who rebuilt important parts of the Chicago transportation system after the fire. Situated in a 77-acre park on the shore of Lake Geneva, this observatory was the center for world astronomy in the early 20th century and invited a number of astronomers from around the world, including Japan, for scientific exchange. [Source: Yerkes Observatory Virtual Museum]

Scientific American‘s daily trivia question asks about tourism. (Clicking on the question leads to its answer.)

Who was the first paying space tourist?

Good morning.

We’ll have a high of fifty-six today, with a twenty-percent chance of afternoon showers.

We are far from the Atlantic Ocean, and so among the many immediate concerns of Wisconsinites, the lionfish, fortunately, is not one:

The clear waters around Bermuda are as picturesque as you can imagine, and the brilliantly colored fish swimming around are like something from a crayon box. But a serious problem lurks behind the beautiful facade: the lionfish.

Lionfish are not native to the Atlantic Ocean. The venomous, fast reproducing fish are aggressive eaters and will consume anything and everything, gorging so much they are actually getting liver disease. With no known predators — except human beings — they can wipe out 90% of a reef.

“The lionfish invasion is probably the worst environmental disaster the Atlantic will ever face,” said Graham Maddocks, president and founder of Ocean Support Foundation, which works with the government and research agencies to help reduce the lionfish population in Bermuda.

While the problem is only beginning to escalate, many in the marine preservation field are already concerned for the marine life that surrounds the lionfish.

How did this happen, that a non-native species got there?

Ask Florida.

Florida pet owners are blamed for their release into unfamiliar waters. Believe it or not, DNA evidence traces all lionfish in the Atlantic back to only six to eight female lionfish.

In Wisconsin’s experience, Frederick Douglass speaks to a Beaver Dam audience on 10.20.1856:

1856 – Frederick Douglass Speaks in Beaver Dam
On this date Frederick Douglass arrived in Beaver Dam and spoke about the brutality and immorality of slavery. His speech was also intended to generate support for the abolitionist movement in Dodge Co. and Wisconsin. A former runaway slave and leading orator and author of the abolitionist movement, Douglass is regarded as one of the most influential Americans of the 19th century. [Source: Wisconsin Local History Network]