Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be a bit cooler, and a bit wetter (perhaps), than yesterday: a high of fifty-nine and a one-third chance for showers.

The Landmarks Commission meets at this evening at 6 PM.

On this day in 1941, a breakfast offering is born: “General Mills began shipping a new cereal called “Cheerioats” to six test markets. (The cereal was later renamed ‘Cheerios.’)” Cheerios billed itself as the world’s first “ready-to-eat oat cereal.”

Google-a-Day poses a question about pop culture: “Which playwright’s work inspired the 2011 film directed by the actor who played Count Laszio de Almásy in 1996?”

Good morning.

A new month begins with mostly sunny skies, a high of 81, and southwest winds at 5 to 10 mph. We’ll have 14h 6m of sunlight, 15h 8m of daylight, and a waning gibbous moon. There will be two minutes more light tomorrow.

Tonight at 5:30 and again at 6:30, in Hyland Hall Room 3101, there will be training sessions for business people on a Digital Mapping Project: the sessions will present tips on marketing a business in an environment of digital communication. For more information, see Wednesday, May 1st: The Digital Whitewater Mapping Project.

It’s the anniversary of the Empire State Building’s dedication ceremony:

On this day in 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City’s Empire State Building, pressing a button from the White House that turns on the building’s lights. Hoover’s gesture, of course, was symbolic; while the president remained in Washington, D.C., someone else flicked the switches in New York.

The idea for the Empire State Building is said to have been born of a competition between Walter Chrysler of the Chrysler Corporation and John Jakob Raskob of General Motors, to see who could erect the taller building. Chrysler had already begun work on the famous Chrysler Building, the gleaming 1,046-foot skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. Not to be bested, Raskob assembled a group of well-known investors, including former New York Governor Alfred E. Smith. The group chose the architecture firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon Associates to design the building. The Art-Deco plans, said to have been based in large part on the look of a pencil, were also builder-friendly: The entire building went up in just over a year, under budget (at $40 million) and well ahead of schedule. During certain periods of building, the frame grew an astonishing four-and-a-half stories a week.

At the time of its completion, the Empire State Building, at 102 stories and 1,250 feet high (1,454 feet to the top of the lightning rod), was the world’s tallest skyscraper. The Depression-era construction employed as many as 3,400 workers on any single day, most of whom received an excellent pay rate, especially given the economic conditions of the time. The new building imbued New York City with a deep sense of pride, desperately needed in the depths of the Great Depression, when many city residents were unemployed and prospects looked bleak. The grip of the Depression on New York’s economy was still evident a year later, however, when only 25 percent of the Empire State’s offices had been rented….

Google has a question about a mountain in Europe: “What mountain in Switzerland includes three types of glacial erosion, and resembles an ancient Egyptian structure with four specific sides?”

Good morning.

Our month ends with a high of eighty-three and an even chance of thunderstorms.

Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM, for closed session deliberations, to reconvene in open session thereafter, about a fiber installation proposal.

On this day in 1789, the first presidential inauguration takes place in New York:

In New York City, George Washington, the great military leader of the American Revolution, is inaugurated as the first president of the United States.

In February 1789, all 69 presidential electors unanimously chose Washington to be the first U.S. president. In March, the new U.S. constitution officially took effect, and in April Congress formally sent word to Washington that he had won the presidency. He borrowed money to pay off his debts in Virginia and traveled to New York. On April 30, he came across the Hudson River in a specially built and decorated barge. The inaugural ceremony was performed on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street, and a large crowd cheered after he took the oath of office. The president then retired indoors to read Congress his inaugural address, a quiet speech in which he spoke of “the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” The evening celebration was opened and closed by 13 skyrockets and 13 cannons.

On 4.30.1845, Wisconsin approves public education:

1845 – Wisconsin Approves Free Schools
On this date, under the leadership of Michael Frank, Wisconsin adopted “free” education for its residents. Frank’s plan narrowly passed the legislature by a vote of 90 to 79. Frank’s motivation for free education in Wisconsin was partially inspired by a similar campaign, promoted by Horace Mann in Massachusetts. On June 16, 1845 the first free school opened in Wisconsin. It was one of only three free schools in the country, outside the New England states. By August 1845, Wisconsin had five free schools in operation. [Source:Badger Saints and Sinners, Fred L. Holmes, pg 78-92]

A public program, surely, but there never was, and never will be, one that’s truly without cost.

Google-a-Day asks a history question: “From what kind of facility was the founder and leader of the Mormons escaping when he was shot and killed?”

Good morning.

Monday brings a chance of afternoon thunderstorms with a high of seventy.

Whitewater’s Fire & Rescue Task Force meets today at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1974, a release of audio recordings:

…President Richard Nixon announces to the public that he will release transcripts of 46 taped White House conversations in response to a Watergate trial subpoena issued in July 1973. The House Judiciary committee accepted 1,200 pages of transcripts the next day, but insisted that the tapes themselves be turned over as well.

Nixontapes.org has transcripts and audio files of the recordings.

Google poses a geography question: “What area of the country is the main benefactor of the electricity generated by the Hoover Dam?”