Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will bring a day of showers and a high of forty-five.

On 4.17.1936, a single horsehair uncovers a murderer:

After a week of tracking down every conceivable lead, police finally find the evidence they need in order to break the case of Nancy Titterton’s rape-murder in New York City. Titterton, a novelist and the wife of NBC executive Lewis Titterton, was raped and strangled in her upscale home on Beekman Place on the morning of April 10, 1936. The only clues left behind were a foot-long piece of cord that had been used to tie Titterton’s hands and a single horsehair found on her bedspread.

These small traces of evidence proved to be enough to find the killer. The detective in charge of the investigation had ordered his team to trace the source of the cord. After a full week of combing every rope and twine manufacturer in the Northeast, the cord was finally found to have come from Hanover Cordage Company in York, Pennsylvania. Company records showed that some of the distinctive cord had been sold to Theodore Kruger’s upholstery shop in New York City.

Since the investigation of the horsehair had already led police to suspect John Fiorenza, an assistant at Kruger’s shop, this new evidence only solidified their suspicion. Fiorenza and Kruger were the first to discover Titterton’s body, when they arrived to return a repaired couch (which had been stuffed with horsehair that matched the one found at the crime scene) on the afternoon of April 10. However, they both denied entering the bedroom that day.

When investigators learned that Fiorenza had been at the Titterton house on April 9 and had been late for work the morning of the murder, they looked deeper into his background. Fiorenza had four prior arrests for theft and had been diagnosed as delusional by a prison psychiatrist. Detectives first gained Fiorenza’s trust by pretending to need his help in solving the crime and then sprang the cord evidence on him.

Caught by surprise, Fiorenza confessed to the brutal crime but claimed that he was temporarily insane. This defense didn’t hold up too well at trial, and Fiorenza was executed on January 22, 1937.

On 4.17.1897, a famous Madisonian playwright in born:

1897 – Thornton Wilder Born
On this date Thornton Wilder was born in Madison. A renowned author and playwright, he taught at the University of Chicago from 1930 to 1937. His plays Our Town (1938) and The Skin of our Teeth (1942) won Pulitzer Prizes and have been performed countless times by school and amateur theatrical companies in the decades since.You can read a 1928 article about his Wisconsin roots in our Wisconsin Local History & Biographies collection. [Source: Thornton Wilder Society]

Google-a-Day poses an entertainment question: “What actress, best known for her role on “Guiding Light,” has a sister-in-law that’s been nominated for an Academy Award seventeen times?”

Good morning.

We’ve a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms with a high of fifty-three, and northwest winds at 5 to 10 MPH. There will be 13h 26m of sunlight, 14h 25m of daylight, and a waxing crescent moon.

Whitewater’s Alcohol Licensing Committee meets at 6:10 PM, and Common Council at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1789, Washington heads north for his inauguration:

…newly elected President George Washington leaves his Mount Vernon, Virginia, home and heads for New York, where he is sworn in as the first American president.

Before leaving, Washington addressed a group of citizens in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, to whom he expressed his inner conflict at assuming the role of president. He admitted that he would have preferred to stay in retirement and wondered aloud, “at my age what possible advantages [could I gain] from public life?” However, disturbed by growing antagonism between the fledgling nation s political factions, Washington felt duty-bound to help resolve what he feared was an impending crisis. He recounted the day in his diary: “I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express.”

Washington was 57 years old when he took leave of his family, friends and staff at the Mount Vernon estate, to which he had retired after leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War.

On this day in 1944, the USS Wisconsin is commissioned:

1944 – USS Wisconsin Commissioned
On this date the USS Wisconsin battleship was put into active duty for service during World War II. The ship, decommissioned in 1948, was recommissioned in 1951 for service in the Korean War. [Source: United States Navy]

Google-a-Day presents a sports question: “What CBS sportscaster was banned from covering the Masters golf tournament after calling a patron gallery at a famous men’s golf club ‘a mob?'”

Good morning.

Monday brings a rainy day with a high of sixty-one.

Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1783, Congress approves a peace treaty:

…the Continental Congress of the United States officially ratifies the preliminary peace treaty with Great Britain that was signed in November 1782. The congressional move brings the nascent nation one step closer to the conclusion of the Revolutionary War.

Five months later, on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed by representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain and France, officially bringing an end to the Revolutionary War. It also formalized Great Britain’s recognition of America’s independence.

On this day in 1876, speedy communication comes to northern Wisconsin:

1876 – First Northern Wisconsin Telegraph Line Completed
On this date the first telegraph line in northern Wisconsin was completed near Ashland. A few months later, this same telegraph line was used to convey General Custer’s defeat. [Source: “B” Book I, Beer Bottles, Brawls, Boards, Brothels, Bibles, Battles & Brownstone by Tony Woiak]

Google-a-Day asks about a big reptile: “What does the name given to the Aldabra giant tortoise, considered one of the longest-living animals on record at the time of his death, mean in English?”

Good morning.

It’s a Sunday wintry mix for Whitewater, of rain, freezing rain, and snow, with no meaningful accumulation of snow expected. We’ll have 13h 20m of sunlight and 14h 19m of daylight with a waxing crescent moon.

Pres. Lincoln was shot this day in 1865 at Ford’s Theater, and passed away a day later, 4.15.1865.

Police in North Carolina are searching for lobster and banana-clad thieves who stole a $1,000 sculpture:

Today in 1953, a baseball milestone for Wisconsin:

1953 – Milwaukee Braves Debut On this date the Milwaukee Braves made their official debut in Milwaukee, at the newly constructed County Stadium. They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2, in 10 innings. Bill Bruton hit the game-winning home run. [Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online]

Milwaukee had an impressive  .597 season that year, but also the misfortune of sharing the NL with the .682 (105-49) Brooklyn Dodgers.

Here’s a geography question from Google-a-Day: “What city, the major financial center of its country, is located on the northern coast of the island where the poet who wrote “A Good Boy” died ?”

Good morning.

Saturday brings a chance of morning flurries and a high of forty-three.

On this day in 1970, Apollo 13’s planned moon landing became impossible after an explosion from a liquid oxygen tank.

Anthony Bourdain will have a new show on CNN, Parts Unknown, beginning this Sunday @ 8 PM CT. Here’s a portion of the upcoming premiere episode, in which he discovers a human-powered Ferris wheel:

Risky, but where there’s a will…

Google-a-Day offers a sports question: “Describing the reporter people loved to hate, what late columnist, born in Fort Benning, wrote, “Very few people liked Howard Cosell… but that’s the point…”?”