On this date

the Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation.

explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.

at the U.S. Capitol, members of the House and Senate met in air-conditioned chambers for the first time.

the naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended during World War II with a decisive U.S. victory over Japanese forces.

four members of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kan., were found murdered in their home. (Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were convicted of the killings and hanged in a case made famous by Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood.”)

the flight of Gemini 12, the final mission of the Gemini program, ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell, a Milwaukee native, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. splashed down in the Atlantic after spending four days in orbit.

Kwame Ture, the civil rights activist formerly known as Stokely Carmichael, died at age 57.

Gay rights supporters marched in cities coast to coast to protest the vote that banned gay marriage in California.

Dressed in a Batman costume, 5-year-old leukemia patient Miles Scott fulfilled his wish to be his favorite superhero, in an elaborate fantasy arranged by the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Zimbabwe’s military was in control of the country’s capital and held President Robert Mugabe and his wife under house arrest; the military said it aimed to restore the country’s democracy. (The military intervention, popular in Zimbabwe, led to impeachment proceedings against Mugabe.)

Associated Press