Good morning.

Friday arrives as an increasingly sunny day, with a high of eighty-three.

On this day in 1915, Britain produces the first tank:

On this day in 1915, a prototype tank nicknamed Little Willie rolls off the assembly line in England. Little Willie was far from an overnight success. It weighed 14 tons, got stuck in trenches and crawled over rough terrain at only two miles per hour. However, improvements were made to the original prototype and tanks eventually transformed military battlefields.

The British developed the tank in response to the trench warfare of World War I. In 1914, a British army colonel named Ernest Swinton and William Hankey, secretary of the Committee for Imperial Defence, championed the idea of an armored vehicle with conveyor-belt-like tracks over its wheels that could break through enemy lines and traverse difficult territory. The men appealed to British navy minister Winston Churchill, who believed in the concept of a “land boat” and organized a Landships Committee to begin developing a prototype. To keep the project secret from enemies, production workers were reportedly told the vehicles they were building would be used to carry water on the battlefield (alternate theories suggest the shells of the new vehicles resembled water tanks). Either way, the new vehicles were shipped in crates labeled “tank” and the name stuck.

On September 6, 1998, a Wisconsin entertainer dies:

1998 – Tommy Bartlett Dies
On this date Wisconsin Dells showman, Tommy Bartlett died. Bartlett began his show business career at the age of 13 when he went to work at WISN, a radio station out of Milwaukee. By the age of 17 Bartlett was hosting a show at Chicago’s WBBM. During World War II, Bartlett was part of the Army Air Corps. After completing his service he worked for a short time as a pilot for Northwest Airlines. In 1952, The Tommy Bartlett Water Ski & Jumping Boat Thrill Show was born in Chicago. After a single performance in Wisconsin Dells, he was asked to locate the show permenently at the growing tourist destination. The performance became the Tommy Barlett Show which is still popular with tourists today. [Source: Tommy Bartlett Show]

Puzzability‘s current series for the week, entitled Labor Unions, ends today:

Labor Unions

We’re sure you can work this all out. For each day this Labor Day week, we started with the name of a TV character and his or her occupation. Each day’s clue shows the name and the occupation melded together in a string of letters, with each in order but intermingled with the other.

Example:

SAHNDEYRTAIYFLOFR

Answer: Andy Taylor/sheriff

What to Submit: Submit the character’s name and his or her occupation, in that order (as “Andy Taylor/sheriff” in the example), for your answer.

Here’s today’s puzzle:

Friday, September 6
DIVESNCJUSOFCLYKTERAPY

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny, with a high of seventy-four and east winds of 5 to 10 mph.

The Landmarks Commission meets tonight at 6 PM in the City Manger’s Secret Lair Conference Room, on the second floor of City Hall.

On this day in 1836, Texas elects a president:

….Sam Houston is elected as president of the Republic of Texas, which earned its independence from Mexico in a successful military rebellion….

Houston was appointed military commander of the Texas army.

Though the rebellion suffered a crushing blow at the Alamo in early 1836, Houston was soon able to turn his army’s fortunes around. On April 21, he led some 800 Texans in a surprise defeat of 1,500 Mexican soldiers under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at the San Jacinto River. Santa Anna was captured and brought to Houston, where he was forced to sign an armistice that would grant Texas its freedom. After receiving medical treatment for his war wounds in New Orleans, Houston returned to win election as president of the Republic of Texas on September 5. In victory, Houston declared that “Texas will again lift its head and stand among the nations….It ought to do so, for no country upon the globe can compare with it in natural advantages.”

Houston served as the republic’s president until 1838, then again from 1841 to 1844. Despite plans for retirement, Houston helped Texas win admission to the United States in 1845 and was elected as one of the state’s first two senators. He served three terms in the Senate and ran successfully for Texas’ governorship in 1859. As the Civil War loomed, Houston argued unsuccessfully against secession, and was deposed from office in March 1861 after refusing to swear allegiance to the Confederacy. He died of pneumonia in 1863.

Puzzability‘s series for the week is entitled, Labor Unions:

Labor Unions

We’re sure you can work this all out. For each day this Labor Day week, we started with the name of a TV character and his or her occupation. Each day’s clue shows the name and the occupation melded together in a string of letters, with each in order but intermingled with the other.

Example:

SAHNDEYRTAIYFLOFR

Answer:  Andy Taylor/sheriff

What to Submit: Submit the character’s name and his or her occupation, in that order (as “Andy Taylor/sheriff” in the example), for your answer.

Here’s today’s puzzle:

Thursday, September 5
CCOARLRUIEBMRANDSIHASWT

Good morning.

Wednesday will be sunny with a high of eighty-two, with west winds of 5 mph. Sunrise was 6:23 AM and sunset will be 7:24 PM. The moon is a waning crescent with only 1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1886, Geronimo surrenders:

On this day in 1886, Apache chief Geronimo surrenders to U.S. government troops. For 30 years, the mighty Native American warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s homeland; however, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and hopelessly outnumbered. General Nelson Miles accepted Geronimo’s surrender, making him the last Indian warrior to formally give in to U.S. forces and signaling the end of the Indian Wars in the Southwest….

Geronimo and a band of Apaches were sent to Florida and then Alabama, eventually ending up at the Comanche and Kiowa reservation near Fort Sill, Oklahoma Territory. There, Geronimo became a successful farmer and converted to Christianity. He participated in President Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural parade in 1905. The Apache chief dictated his autobiography, published in 1906 as Geronimo’s Story of His Life. He died at Fort Sill on February 17, 1909.

Puzzability‘s series for the week is entitled, Labor Unions:

Labor Unions
We’re sure you can work this all out. For each day this Labor Day week, we started with the name of a TV character and his or her occupation. Each day’s clue shows the name and the occupation melded together in a string of letters, with each in order but intermingled with the other.

Example:
SAHNDEYRTAIYFLOFR

Answer:
Andy Taylor/sheriff

What to Submit:
Submit the character’s name and his or her occupation, in that order (as “Andy Taylor/sheriff” in the example), for your answer.

Here’s today’s puzzle:

Wednesday, September 4
PBOSYBHCAHORLTOGLISETY

Good morning.

It’s a beautiful Tuesday for Whitewater: sunny, a high near seventy-five, and calm winds from the west at 5 mph in the morning.

Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1783, the Revolutionary War comes to a legal end:

The American Revolution officially comes to an end when representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain and France sign the Treaty of Paris on this day in 1783. The signing signified America’s status as a free nation, as Britain formally recognized the independence of its 13 former American colonies, and the boundaries of the new republic were agreed upon: Florida north to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast west to the Mississippi River….

The National Archives have a more online information about the Treaty in their 100 Milestone Documents series.

On this day in 1947, the federal government sells a Walworth County marijuana farm:

1947 – War Assets Office Sells Hemp Factory
On this date the federal War Assets Office sold a local government-owned hemp mill to Walworth Foundries. The mill, located on Highway 14 two miles north of Darien, consisted of 20 acres where marijuana was grown and seven buildings where the hemp was used to create rope and burlap, as part of the war effort. [Source: Janesville Gazette]

Yes, Walworth County. No, the county didn’t fall apart, or the world end. In fact, one recalls that the Allies won the Second World War, preserving democratic civilization, while liberating millions from fascism and Japanese imperialism. Those twenty acres did their part for that effort.

Puzzability‘s series for the week is entitled, Labor Unions:

Labor Unions
We’re sure you can work this all out. For each day this Labor Day week, we started with the name of a TV character and his or her occupation. Each day’s clue shows the name and the occupation melded together in a string of letters, with each in order but intermingled with the other.

Example:
SAHNDEYRTAIYFLOFR

Answer:
Andy Taylor/sheriff

What to Submit:
Submit the character’s name and his or her occupation, in that order (as “Andy Taylor/sheriff” in the example), for your answer.

Here’s today’s puzzle:

Tuesday, September 3
AALTLYTMOCRBENALEY