TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Nov. 15, 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.

ALSO 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.

1937

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

1942

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

1959

Four members of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, were found murdered in their home.

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.

1982

Funeral services were held in Moscow’s Red Square for the late Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev.

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.

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.