Today in History

Today in History
November 15

1315		Swiss soldiers ambush and slaughter invading Austrians in the battle of Morgarten.
1533		The explorer Francisco Pizarro enters Cuzco, Peru.
1626		The Pilgrim Fathers, who have settled in New Plymouth, buy out their London investors.
1777		The Articles of Confederation, instituting perpetual union of the United States of America, are adopted by Congress.
1805		Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their party reach the mouth of the Columbia River, completing their trek to the Pacific.
1806		Explorer Zebulon Pike discovers the Colorado Peak that bears his name, despite the fact that he didn’t climb it.
1864		Union Major General William T. Sherman’s troops set fires that destroy much of Atlanta’s industrial district prior to beginning Sherman’s March to the Sea.
1881		The American Federation of Labor is founded.
1909		M. Metrot takes off in a Voisin biplane from Algiers, making the first manned flight in Africa.
1917		Kerensky flees and Bolsheviks take command in Moscow.
1920		Forty-one nations open the first League of Nations session in Geneva..
1922		It is announced that Dr. Alexis Carrel has discovered white corpuscles.
1930		General strikes and riots paralyze Madrid, Spain.
1937		Eighteen lawsuits are brought against the Tennessee Valley Authority, calling for its dissolution.
1942		An American fleet defeats a Japanese naval force in a clash off Guadalcanal.
1946		The 17th Paris Air Show opens at the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysees. It is the first show of this kind since World War II.
1952		Newark Airport in New Jersey reopens after closing earlier in the year because of an increase in accidents.
1957		Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev asserts Soviet superiority in missiles, challenging the United States to a rocket-range shooting match.
1960		The first submarine with nuclear missiles, USS George Washington, takes to sea from Charleston, South Carolina.
1962		Cuba threatens to down U.S. planes on reconnaissance flights over its territory.
1963		Argentina voids all foreign oil contracts.
1965		In the second day of combat, regiments of the 1st Cavalry Division battle on Landing Zones X-Ray against North Vietnamese forces in the Ia Drang Valley.
1969		A quarter of a million anti-Vietnam War demonstrators march in Washington, D.C.
1976		A Syrian peace force takes control of Beirut, Lebanon.
1984		Baby Fae dies 20 days after receiving a baboon heart transplant in Loma Linda, California.
1985		Anglo-Irish Agreement signed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald.
1988		Palestinian National Council proclaims an independent State of Palestine.
1990		People’s Republic of Bulgaria replaced by a new republican government.
2007		Cyclone Sidr strikes Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people.
Born on November 15
1708		William Pitt the Elder, secretary of state of England whose strategies helped win the Seven Years War.
1738		Sir William Hershel, British astronomer who discovered Uranus.
1887		Georgia O’Keefe, American artist.
1891		Erwin Rommel, German field marshal in World War II.
1906		Curtis LeMay, general in US Army Air Corps and later US Air Force; vice presidential running mate of George Wallace in 1968; credited with planning the strategic bombing campaign against Imperial Japan during WWII.
1907		Claus von Stauffenberg, German army officer; a leader in the failed July 20, 1944, assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler.
1913		Guy Green, English film director, screenwriter, cinematographer; won Academy Award for cinematography for Great Expectations (1946); received Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA (2002) and named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (2004).
1925		Howard Baker, Ameican politician; Senate Majority Leader (1981-85), White House Chief of Staff under Ronald Reagan (1987-88), Ambassador to Japan (2001-05).
1939		W. C. Clark, blues musician known as the "Godfather of Austin Blues.".
1940		Sam Waterston, actor, producer, director (The Killing Fields; TV movieLincoln; Jack McCoy, Law & Order TV series).
1941		Daniel Pinkwater, author best known for his children’s books and Young Adult fiction (The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death).
1942		Daniel Barenboim, Israeli pianist and conductor.