TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 15, the 319th day of 2017. There are 46 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On Nov. 15, 1942, the naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended during World War II with a decisive U.S. victory over Japanese forces.
On this date
1777 — The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation. 1806 — Explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.
1864 — During the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman began their “March to the Sea” from Atlanta; the campaign ended with the capture of Savannah on Dec. 21.
1889 — Brazil was proclaimed a republic as its emperor, Dom Pedro II, was overthrown.
1926 — The National Broadcasting Company began operating its radio network.
1939 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
1959 — Four members of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, were found murdered in their home. (Ex-convicts Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were later convicted of the killings and hanged in a case made famous by the Truman Capote book “In Cold Blood.”)
1966 — The flight of Gemini 12, the final mission of the Gemini program, ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. splashed down safely in the Atlantic after spending four days in orbit.
1979 — The British government publicly identified Sir Anthony Blunt as the “fourth man” of a Soviet spy ring.
1986 — A government tribunal in Nicaragua convicted American Eugene Hasenfus of charges related to his role in delivering arms to Contra rebels, and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. (Hasenfus was pardoned a month later.)
1987 — When a Continental Airlines DC-9 crashed seconds after taking off from Denver’s Stapleton International Airport, 28 of 82 people aboard the jetliner, including the pilots, were killed.
2001 — Magretta Hall, at the intersection of Broad Street and Second Avenue, was the scene of continued filming for the movie “Sweet Home Alabama.”
2007 — Cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh, killing over 3,200 people and leaving millions homeless.