Good morning.

Whitewater will have a sunny Sunday, with a high of eighty-eight. Sunrise was at 6:12 AM and sunset will be 7:41 PM. The moon is in a waning gibbous phase with 75% of its visible disk illuminated.

And of the moon, on this day in 1835, a Great Moon Hoax began:

On this day in 1835, the first in a series of six articles announcing the supposed discovery of life on the moon appears in the New York Sun newspaper.

Known collectively as “The Great Moon Hoax,” the articles were supposedly reprinted from the Edinburgh Journal of Science. The byline was Dr. Andrew Grant, described as a colleague of Sir John Herschel, a famous astronomer of the day. Herschel had in fact traveled to Capetown, South Africa, in January 1834 to set up an observatory with a powerful new telescope. As Grant described it, Herschel had found evidence of life forms on the moon, including such fantastic animals as unicorns, two-legged beavers and furry, winged humanoids resembling bats. The articles also offered vivid description of the moon’s geography, complete with massive craters, enormous amethyst crystals, rushing rivers and lush vegetation….

Readers were completely taken in by the story, however, and failed to recognize it as satire. The craze over Herschel’s supposed discoveries even fooled a committee of Yale University scientists, who traveled to New York in search of the Edinburgh Journal articles. After Sun employees sent them back and forth between the printing and editorial offices, hoping to discourage them, the scientists returned to New Haven without realizing they had been tricked.

On September 16, 1835, the Sun admitted the articles had been a hoax. People were generally amused by the whole thing, and sales of the paper didn’t suffer….

Good morning.

It’s a beautiful day in Whitewater, with sunny skies, a daytime high of eighty-two ahead, and light winds from the south at 5 to 10 mph.

Ever wonder about when to use who and whom? The Oatmeal.com has you covered:

Easily resolved! How and why to use whom in a sentence – The Oatmeal http://t.co/JLse7exeda

— John Adams (@DailyAdams) August 21, 2013

If you had been living in Pompeii on this day in the year 79, you would have experienced nature’s full fury:

At noon on August 24, 79 A.D., this pleasure and prosperity came to an end when the peak of Mount Vesuvius exploded, propelling a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere. For the next 12 hours, volcanic ash and a hail of pumice stones up to 3 inches in diameter showered Pompeii, forcing the city’s occupants to flee in terror. Some 2,000 people stayed in Pompeii, holed up in cellars or stone structures, hoping to wait out the eruption.

A westerly wind protected Herculaneum from the initial stage of the eruption, but then a giant cloud of hot ash and gas surged down the western flank of Vesuvius, engulfing the city and burning or asphyxiating all who remained. This lethal cloud was followed by a flood of volcanic mud and rock, burying the city.

The people who remained in Pompeii were killed on the morning of August 25 when a cloud of toxic gas poured into the city, suffocating all that remained. A flow of rock and ash followed, collapsing roofs and walls and burying the dead….

According to Pliny the Younger’s account, the eruption lasted 18 hours. Pompeii was buried under 14 to 17 feet of ash and pumice, and the nearby seacoast was drastically changed. Herculaneum was buried under more than 60 feet of mud and volcanic material. Some residents of Pompeii later returned to dig out their destroyed homes and salvage their valuables, but many treasures were left and then forgotten.

Good morning.

Friday brings a sunny day with a high of seventy-nine and winds at 5 to 10 mph.

On this day in 1784, the State of Franklin declares its independence:

…four counties in western North Carolina declare their independence as the state of Franklin. The counties lay in what would eventually become Tennessee.

The previous April, the state of North Carolina had ceded its western land claims between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi River to the United States Congress. The settlers in this area, known as the Cumberland River Valley, had formed their own independent government from 1772 to 1777 and were concerned that Congress would sell the territory to Spain or France as a means of paying off some of the government’s war debt. As a result, North Carolina retracted its cession and began to organize an administration for the territory.

Simultaneously, representatives from Washington, Sullivan, Spencer (modern-day Hawkins) and Greene counties declared their independence from North Carolina. The following May, the counties petitioned for statehood as “Frankland” to the United States Congress. A simple majority of states favored acceptance of the petition, but it fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass, even after the counties’ changed their proposed name to “Franklin” in an attempt to curry Benjamin Franklin’s and others’ favor.

In defiance of Congress, Franklin survived as an independent nation for four years with its own constitution, Indian treaties and legislated system of barter in lieu of currency, though after only two years, North Carolina set up its own parallel government in the region. Finally, Franklin’s weak economy forced its governor, John Sevier, to approach the Spanish for aid. North Carolina, terrified of having a Spanish client state on its border, arrested Sevier. When Cherokee, Chickamauga and Chickasaw began to attack settlements within Franklin’s borders in 1788, it quickly rejoined North Carolina to gain its militia’s protection from attack.

Puzzability‘s current series entitled, Silent Partners, ends today:

“Can we get a little piece and quiet around here? For each day this week, we started with a word and added the letters SH to the beginning to get a new word. The two-word answer phrase, described by each day’s clue, is the shorter word followed by the SH word.”

Example:
Hands out portions of green onions

Answer:
Allots shallots

What to Submit:
Submit the phrase, with the SH word second (as “Allots shallots” in the example), for your answer.

Friday, August 23:

Bush that’s squishy and bendable

Good morning.

We’ve a forty-percent chance of scattered showers today, with a high of eighty-three.

It’s the 151st anniversary of Claude Debussy‘s birth, and Google’s created a musical doodle for the occasion:

On this day in 1861, a future governor of Wisconsin heads into action during the Civil War:

1861 – (Civil War) Future Gov. Lucius Fairchild departs for the front
The Daily Milwaukee Press reported on this day that Company K of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry presented their Captain, Lucius Fairchild, with a ceremonial sword and sash at Camp Scott in Milwaukee. Fairchild was to leave that same afternoon for Washington, D.C., and begin his new appointment as lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry.

Fairchild had a distinguished military career before later serving three terms as governor:

General Fairchild, as a Private in 1858, enlisted in a Wisconsin volunteer militia known as the “governor’s guard”. Under his guidance the militia was titled Company K, 1st Wisconsin volunteers and by 1861, was serving in the Civil War at Falling Waters against the “Stonewall Brigade” of General Thomas J. Jackson. In August 1861, Fairchild was appointed Captain of the 16th US Regulars as well as Major of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The 2nd Wisconsin served in the brigade commanded by General William T. Sherman until the general reorganization of the Union army following the First Battle of Bull Run. Electing to stay with the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry, Fairchild was soon commissioned Lieutenant Colonel and, with his regiment now a part of the famed Iron Brigade within the Army of the Potomac, participated in the Second Battle of Bull Run. One week thereafter, on September 8, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry. On February 27, 1863, the Iron Brigade, now under the command of Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith, was redesignated the “1st Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps”. This gave Fairchild the distinction of being the ranking officer among all commissioned officers within the I Corp of the Army of the Potomac during the Spring and Summer of 1863.

Fairchild and the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry distinguished themselves at the Battle of Antietam, then at Seminary Ridge during the first day of fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, being the first infantry regiment to make close contact with the Confederate Army. During the engagement, at approximately 10:00, the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry delivered a striking blow by capturing very first Confederate General Officer of the war, Brig. Gen. James J. Archer. Almost immediately after this success, the regiment was ambushed by an attack on their right flank, losing seventy-seven percent of their ranks, including most officers. Fairchild was shot in the upper arm, captured, tended to, and released. While recovering from his amputated left arm, Fairchild was commissioned as brigadier general [by] President Abraham Lincoln on October 19, 1863.

Puzzability‘s current series is entitled, Silent Partners:

“Can we get a little piece and quiet around here? For each day this week, we started with a word and added the letters SH to the beginning to get a new word. The two-word answer phrase, described by each day’s clue, is the shorter word followed by the SH word.”

Example:
Hands out portions of green onions

Answer:
Allots shallots

What to Submit:
Submit the phrase, with the SH word second (as “Allots shallots” in the example), for your answer.

Thursday, August 22:

Enthusiastic about the main faith of Japan