Good morning.

Whitewater will have a partly cloudy day with a slight chance of thunderstorms and a high of eighty.

On this day in 1990, Iraq invades Kuwait:

At about 2 a.m. local time, Iraqi forces invade Kuwait, Iraq’s tiny, oil-rich neighbor. Kuwait’s defense forces were rapidly overwhelmed, and those that were not destroyed retreated to Saudi Arabia. The emir of Kuwait, his family, and other government leaders fled to Saudi Arabia, and within hours Kuwait City had been captured and the Iraqis had established a provincial government. By annexing Kuwait, Iraq gained control of 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves and, for the first time, a substantial coastline on the Persian Gulf. The same day, the United Nations Security Council unanimously denounced the invasion and demanded Iraq’s immediate withdrawal from Kuwait. On August 6, the Security Council imposed a worldwide ban on trade with Iraq.

On this day in 1832, the Black Hawk War ends:

1832 – Black Hawk War Ends
On this date the defeat of Black Hawk and his followers at the Battle of Bad Axe, ended the Black Hawk War. Black Hawk led the American troops northward while the rest of the Indians constructed rafts and canoes to facilitate an escape over the Mississippi river. The plan was successful initially but eventually General Atkinson realized the ruse. In the battle, women, children and the elderly hid behind rocks and logs and American soldiers often could not or did not differentiate between warriors and the women and children. Atkinson sent Wabasha and his Sioux warriors, enemies of the Sauk, after the approximately 150 members of the British Band that made it to the Western bank of the Mississippi. The Sauk, “escaped the best they could, and dispersed”, but only 22 women and childern were spared. Black Hawk escaped, but the Battle of Bad Axe marked the end of the war. [Source: Along the Black Hawk Trail by William F. Stark, p.142-153]

Puzzability‘s Last Laughs series ends today:

Last Laughs

For your amusement this week, we started each day with the name of a TV star who won an Emmy for his or her lead performance in a comedy series. Then we replaced all the letters in each word—except the last letter—with asterisks.

Example:
***Y ****R ****E

Answer:
Mary Tyler Moore

Here’s Friday’s puzzle:

******Y ***G

Good morning.

We’ll have a sunny Thursday in Whitewater, with a high of eighty.

Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets this evening at 6 PM.

It’s the anniversary today, from 1818, of the birthday of America’s first professional woman in astronomy, Maria Mitchell:

Maria Mitchell (August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889)…was an American astronomer, who in 1847, by using a telescope, discovered a comet which as a result became known as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet”. She won a gold medal prize for her discovery which was presented to her by King Frederick VII of Denmark. The medal said “Not in vain do we watch the setting and rising of the stars”. Mitchell was the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer.

On this day in 1832, Black Hawk’s escape fails:

1832 – Black Hawk’s Escape Across Mississippi Blocked
On this date the armed steamboat the Warrior reached the British Band on the Mississippi where they hoped to cross the river and escape the American troops. After being guided by a Sioux Indian, the ship which held an artillery piece, dropped anchor, making the Sauk escape virtually impossible. Black Hawk attempted to surrender to the Warrior, waving a white cloth, but the crew either did not understand or did not accept the message. The ship and its men opened fire, killing a number of unprepared Indians. [Source: Along the Black Hawk Trail by William F. Stark, p. 140-141]

Puzzability has a series this week, from 7.29 to 8.2, entitled Last Laughs:

Last Laughs

For your amusement this week, we started each day with the name of a TV star who won an Emmy for his or her lead performance in a comedy series. Then we replaced all the letters in each word—except the last letter—with asterisks.

Example:
***Y ****R ****E

Answer:
Mary Tyler Moore

Here’s Thursday’s puzzle:

**A *****R

Good morning.

We’ll have a one-third chance of afternoon thunderstorms this Wednesday, and a high of seventy-seven.

July 31, 1777, a young French aristocrat begins serving America without compensation:

On this day in 1777, a 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, accepts a commission as a major-general in the Continental Army—without pay.

Lafayette served at Brandywine in 1777, as well as Barren Hill, Monmouth and Rhode Island in 1778. Following the formal treaty of alliance with Lafayette’s native France in February 1778 and Britain’s subsequent declaration of war, Lafayette asked to return to Paris and consult the king as to his future service. Washington was willing to spare Lafayette, who departed in January 1779. By March, Franklin reported from Paris that Lafayette had become an excellent advocate for the American cause at the French court. Following his six-month respite in France, Lafayette returned to aid the American war effort in Virginia, where he participated in the successful siege of Yorktown in 1781, before returning to France and the further service of his own country.

On this day in 1967, Lake Geneva’s local government, having no more immediate work before them, decided to strike a blow in defense of Western Civilization:

1967 – Lake Geneva Bans Go-Go Girls
On this date the Lake Geneva city government passed an ordinance banning go-go girls, dancers in bikinis, and swimsuit-clad waitresses from working in establishments that served alcohol. [Source: Janesville Gazette]

Puzzability has a series this week, from 7.29 to 8.2, entitled Last Laughs:

Last Laughs

For your amusement this week, we started each day with the name of a TV star who won an Emmy for his or her lead performance in a comedy series. Then we replaced all the letters in each word—except the last letter—with asterisks.

Example:
***Y ****R ****E

Answer:
Mary Tyler Moore

Here’s Wednesday’s puzzle:

***N ***A

Good morning.

We’ll have a high of seventy-four with a thirty percent chance of showers today.

On this day in 1863, Henry Ford is born. Upon his death eighty-three years later, the New York Times wrote of him that

Henry Ford was the founder of modern American industrial mass production methods, built on the assembly line and the belt conveyor system, which no less an authority than Marshal Josef Stalin testified were the indispensable foundation for an Allied military victory in the Second World War.

Mr. Ford had many other distinctions. As the founder and unchallenged master of an industrial empire with assets of more than a billion dollars, he was one of the richest men in the world. He was the apostle of an economic philosophy of high wages and short hours that had immense repercussions on American thinking. He was a patron of American folkways and in later years acquired a reputation as a shrewd, kindly sage. But these were all relatively minor compared with the revolutionary importance of his contribution to modern productive processes.

In Wisconsin history, economist Thorstein Veblen is born:

1857 – Thorstein Veblen Born
On this date economist and social commentator Thorstein Bunde Veblen was born in Cato, although some sources place his birth in Valders. He is best known for his book The Theory of The Leisure Class (1899), a classic of social theory that introduced the concept of “conspicuous consumption.” [Source: The Radical Academy]

Puzzability has a series this week, from 7.29 to 8.2, entitled Last Laughs:

Last Laughs

For your amusement this week, we started each day with the name of a TV star who won an Emmy for his or her lead performance in a comedy series. Then we replaced all the letters in each word—except the last letter—with asterisks.

Example:
***Y ****R ****E

Answer:
Mary Tyler Moore

Here’s Tuesday’s puzzle:

***A **Y