TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Friday, Nov. 15, the 319th day of 2019. 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:
■ In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation.
■ In 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.
■ In 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.
■ In 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established as its new president, Manuel L. Quezon (KAY’-zahn), took office.
■ In 1937, at the U.S. Capitol, members of the House and Senate met in air-conditioned chambers for the first time.
■ In 1958, actor Tyrone Power, 44, died in Madrid, Spain, while filming “Solomon and Sheba.” (Power’s part was recast with Yul Brynner.)
■ In 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.”)
■ In 1961, former Argentine President Juan Peron, living in exile in Spain, married his third wife, Isabel.
■ In 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.
■ In 1984, Stephanie Fae Beauclair, the infant publicly known as “Baby Fae” who had received a baboon’s heart to replace her own congenitally deformed one, died at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California three weeks after the transplant.
■ In 1987, 28 of 82 people aboard a Continental Airlines DC-9, including the pilots, were killed when the jetliner crashed seconds after taking off from Denver’s Stapleton International Airport.
■ In 2003, two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed in Iraq; 17 U.S. troops were killed.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama concluded a two-day summit with AsiaPacific leaders in Singapore, where they pledged to persist with stimulus spending until a global recovery was assured. Kosovo’s first independent elections ended peacefully, with Prime Minister Hashim Thaci (HAH’shihm THAH’-chee) claiming victory for his party. Michelle Wie (wee) earned her first win on the LPGA Tour, closing with a 3-under 69 to finish two strokes ahead of Paula Creamer in the Lorena Ochoa (lohr-AY’-nah oh-CHOH’-uh) Invitational.
Thought for Today: “To oppose something is to maintain it.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, American writer (1929-2018).