By The Associated Press

Today’s Highlight 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 on Dec. 21.

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 1937, at the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 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 1969, a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington against the Vietnam War.

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 2003, two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed in Iraq; 17 U.S. troops were killed.

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 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.

In 2022, 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.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.