Today in History: November 15, Union troops begin ‘Sherman’s March’
Today is Friday, Nov. 15, the 320th day of 2024. There are 46 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Nov. 15, 1864, late in the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh (teh-KUM’-seh) Sherman began their “March to the Sea” from Atlanta; the campaign ended with the capture of Savannah, Georgia on Dec. 21.
Also 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 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. (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 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and pay a record $4.5 billion, including nearly $1.3 billion in criminal fines.
In 2019, Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of President Donald 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. The president commuted Stone’s 40-month sentence days before he was to report to prison.
In 2022, the world population reached 8 billion, based on United Nations projections.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Petula Clark is 92. Actor Sam Waterston is 84. Classical conductor Daniel Barenboim is 82. Pop singer Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad (ABBA) is 79. Fashion designer Jimmy Choo is 76. Actor Beverly D’Angelo is 73. News correspondent John Roberts is 68. Former “Tonight Show” bandleader Kevin Eubanks is 67. Actor Jonny Lee Miller is 52. Actor Sean Murray is 47. Golf Hall of Famer Lorena Ochoa is 43. Actor Shailene Woodley is 33. NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns is 29.
By The Associated Press
