December 2010 Odd Wisconsin
At the turn of the year, everyone recognizes the passage of time. Even people who never think about history will sing Auld Lang Syne and wish that old acquaintance be not forgot. True, their minds may be more focused on that cup of kindness and the attractive stranger across the room, but for a brief moment they also recognize they're...
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Posted in Curiosities on December 27, 2010
150 years ago this week, on Dec. 20, 1860, elected officials in South Carolina declared that they were seceding from the United States. Other southern states soon followed, and less then four months later the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Here in Wisconsin, residents from all walks of life volunteered to put down the rebellion (as they...
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Posted in Curiosities on December 19, 2010
Last weekend's snowstorm may be the first of many blizzards this winter, but it's only the latest in a long line of memorable storms. One that was recalled for a lifetime started on Wednesday, March 2, 1881. The previous Saturday had been warm enough for a thunderstorm; lightning even struck the Capitol. Every low-lying field was still flooded when the...
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Posted in Curiosities on December 12, 2010
Wisconsin may be more than 4,000 miles from Honolulu, but several residents of our state were on hand Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese airplanes attacked. Maj. Stewart Yeo of Milwaukee was hardly awake when the attack started at 7:55 A.M.: "I was still in bed when the first bombs hit an airfield adjoining Schofield [Barracks]. After hearing a few...
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Posted in Curiosities on December 6, 2010
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