Stump the German

[Eva Elisabeth]

Well done, Roger!! You win a delicious French "all you can pronounce" dinner:
   

[RJNorton]

Thank you, Eva. And, also, thank you for the Burlingame hint!

[Eva Elisabeth]

In 1845, election day was fixed to be the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in a leap year. Why?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Well, I'm stumped, and a bit at a loss what to do. I don't know how to give hints as the answer is not just a single word (maybe that's why no one has replied so far?).

[L Verge]

I had to cheat in order to come up with an answer, but it is still somewhat confusing: An early federal law required the electoral college to meet on the first Wednesday in December. Since America was mainly an agrarian society, the month of November was good for elections because the harvest would be mainly over, but the hard winter had not yet set in so that traveling to the county seats to vote was easier. It was then established that the general election had to be held within a 34-day period before the electoral college met in order to allow the electors enough time to travel to their meeting.

Because of the distances to the county seat, Monday was not a good election day because one might have to travel on the Sabbath in order to reach the polls on a Monday. Monday was the better day for travel, so designate Tuesday as the election day.

Also, by designating the first Tuesday after the first Monday, it ensured that the election would not be held on All Saints' Day, November 1, a holy day of obligation for Catholics.

Does that come close?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Excellent, Laurie! That was perfectly explained.

Has there ever been an attempt to change the day to Sunday since nowadays on a working day taking time to vote is for many people sure more difficult to manage? (We always vote on Sundays.)

[L Verge]

I don't know of any move to change election day. I can't speak for other states, but Maryland polls open at 7 am and close at 7 pm in order to allow time for voting before and after work. Some employers also grant an hour or so to go vote.

No matter when we vote, Americans have a poor "attendance rate" at the polls, given that we are supposed to represent what true democracy is all about.

[Eva Elisabeth]

"Stell dir vor, es ist Krieg, und keiner geht hin" was THE slogan of the German peace movement against the Cold War and nuclear weapons and amarment in the 1980ies (particularly 1980-84). Everyone had it on a sticker on the car, on a button on the jacket or similar, it was sprayed on walls, written on schoolbags, simply everywhere. It was and is commonly misattributed to Bertholt Brecht.

Thus I was pretty amazed when I learned that actually the original quote is: "Sometime they'll give a war and nobody will come", and it was worded by a person of the "Lincoln saga".

By whom?

[J. Beckert]

Carl Sandburg. And the Germans take the point!!

[Eva Elisabeth]

Brilliant, Herr Beckert! It's from his epic poem "The People, Yes".

For this "sacred efford" I'll try to persuade Hoch "Friedhelm" that is about to leave us after bringing us some sunny days of spring to go west and replace your Polarwirbel.

[J. Beckert]

Please don't touch my precious Polarwirbel, Frau Eva! It's supposed to be below zero the next 2 nights. It's invigorating.

Polarwirbel Fun Fact # 1 - 95% of the Chinese stink bugs have died off due to the intensity of the Polarwirbel.

[Gene C]

Something smells odd about that statistic

[Rogerm]

If the "Polarwirbel" is so invigorating, then the population of the upper-Midwest must be comprised of some of the most invigorated people on this planet.

[Eva Elisabeth]

This is my first artefact - and I admit it is a mean question what it is:

I'm not sure when I'll have WiFi again to be able to give hints, so feel free to post other trivia questions as well.
One hint: It has to do with the Rebels.
   

[J. Beckert]

A piece of charred remains of something that was at the Garrett Farm?