Good morning.

Whitewater’s Monday will be a mostly sunny day, with a high temperature of about fifty-seven.

Spring Break ends, and Whitewater and all Wisconsin await three seasons of elections (4.3, 5.8, 6.5, 8.14, 11.6). We live in exciting, interesting times.

On this day in 1917, President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against imperial German, exhorting Congress that “The world must be made safe for democracy.” Whatever the merits of the war, it’s an understatement to say that it made neither Europe nor the world safer for democracy.

Google’s busy testing one’s knowledge of geography, and natural events, with Monday’s puzzle: “The so-called “lightning capital of the U.S.” earns its name from the weather that results when sea breezes collide from which two bodies of water?”

Good morning.

It’s a rainy morning for Whitewater, with a high temperature on Friday of forty-seven.

Google’s daily puzzle asks about a place, but the answer lies in a famous remark: “What is the modern name of the city which was the battle site associated with the phrase, “Veni, vidi, vici”?”

So how far do leapin’ lizards really leap? At ScienceNews, there’s a story and video from earlier this year that describes the reasearch of a team at Berkley.

Turns out they can leap well and far, and the acrobatics of Agama lizards are now memorialized on video:

Agama lizards leaping from Science News on Vimeo.

Good morning.

It’s a chilly morning for Whitewater, followed by a mostly sunny day with a high of fifty-two.

On this day in 1973, the last American soldiers left Vietnam.

Thanks to a reminder — that I very much needed — here’s a clip of James Cameron’s dive to the bottom of the ocean —

Remarkable.

Google’s daily puzzle is about mysteries closer to home: “Did your brain’s frontal lobe or temporal lobe have more to do with planning out which movie you’d like to see this evening?” more >>

Good morning.

It’s a mostly sunny day, with a high temperature of sixty-four, ahead for Whitewater.

On this day in 1978, America saw her worst nuclear disaster, at the Three Mile Island reactor.

The Wisconsin Historical Society notes that on this day in 1954,

McCarthy Recall Campaign Begins in Sauk City

On this date, “Joe Must Go,” a bipartisan grassroots campaign to recall Sen. Joe McCarthy from the Senate, began in earnest with an organizational meeting in Sauk City. The campaign had to collect 403,000 signatures in 60 days to force a recall election. With little money, a hastily thrown together organizational structure, and unenthusiastic or non-existent support from existing organizations (including farmers and organized labor), the group was still able to secure 335,000 signatures. Later in 1954 Sen. McCarthy was publicly censured by his Senate colleagues.  [Source: The History of Wisconsin, v.6: Continuity and change, 1940-1965 (Madison, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1973-1998).]

Foodies, here’s a question from Google: “Some call this famous dessert a cake, some a torte, some a custard pie. What was it called in the culture that created it?

Good morning.

It’s a twenty-percent chance of thunderstorms, and a high of seventy, for Whitewater’s Tuesday.

At 4:15 PM today, Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets.

On the agenda for the meeting, linked above, at No. 9 one will see an item about a Bird City designation for Whitewater. Two quick point about this designation: (1) it’s a great idea, and (2) I’m more than skeptical that the Urban Forestry Commission is the place to advance and manage this program.

I’ll write more about being a bird city — there are now fifty such communities in Wisconsin — another time.

Google wants to test one’s geography today: “It’s June 1 and you leave America’s largest independent city on foot bound for “the Biggest Little City in the World.” What day will you arrive if you walk non-stop?”

Good morning.

It’s an overcast day, with a chance of showers and a high of forty-six, ahead for Whitewater.

On this day in 1979, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David peace treaty at the White House.

The Wisconsin Historical Society records today as a the day in 1881 when a famous Wisconsin mascot died:

1881 – Old Abe Dies

On this date Old Abe, famous Civil War mascot, died from injuries sustained during a fire at the State Capitol. Old Abe was the mascot for Company C, an Eau Claire infantry unit that was part of the Wisconsin 8th Regiment. During the Capitol fire of 1881, smoke engulfed Old Abe’s cage. One of his feathers survived and is in the Wisconsin Historical Museum. [Source: Wisconsin Lore and Legends, pg. 51]