This day in history

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 15, the 319th day of 2023. There are 46 days left in the year.

► Birthdays: Singer Petula Clark is 91. Actor Sam Waterston is 83. Classical conductor Daniel Barenboim is 81. ABBA singer Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad is 78. Actor Bob Gunton is 78. Actor Beverly D’Angelo is 72. Directoractor James Widdoes is 70. News correspondent John Roberts is 67. Former “Tonight Show” bandleader Kevin Eubanks is 66. Comedian Judy Gold is 61. Actor Jay Harrington is 52. Actor Jonny Lee Miller is 51. Rock singer-musician Chad Kroeger is 49. Actor Sean Murray is 46. Hip-hop artist B.o.B is 35. Actor Shailene Woodley is 32. Actor-dancer Emma Dumont is 29.

► 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 presentday Colorado.

► In 1864, late in the Civil War, Union forces led by General William Tecumseh Sherman began their “March to the Sea” from Atlanta; the campaign ended with the capture of Savannah on Dec. 21.

► In 1937, at the US Capitol, members of the House and Senate met in air-conditioned chambers for the first time.

► In 1942, the naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended during World War II with a decisive US victory over Japanese forces.

► In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

► 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 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 1969, a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington against the Vietnam War.

► In 2012, the Justice Department announced that BP had agreed to plead guilty to a raft of charges in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and pay a record $4.5 billion, including nearly $1.3 billion in criminal fines.

► In 2018, the number of confirmed dead from the wildfire that had virtually destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise reached 63. (It would eventually total 85.)

► In 2019, Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of President Trump, was convicted of all seven counts in a federal indictment accusing him of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness, and obstructing the House investigation of whether Trump coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign.

► Last year, Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities with its biggest barrage of missiles since the start of its invasion, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts.