Today is Saturday, Nov. 15, the 320th day of 2008. There are 46 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, Nov. 15, the 320th day of 2008. There are 46 days left in the year. On this date in 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike sights the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.

In 1708, British statesman William Pitt (the Elder) is born in London. In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation, a precursor to the Constitution of the United States. In 1889, Brazil is proclaimed a republic as its emperor, Dom Pedro II, is overthrown. In 1908, China’s Empress Dowager Cixi dies two weeks short of her 73rd birthday. In 1939, President Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. In 1948, William Lyon Mackenzie King retires as prime minister of Canada after 21 years; he is succeeded by Louis St. Laurent. In 1958, actor Tyrone Power dies in Madrid, Spain, at age 44 while filming “Solomon and Sheba.” In 1966, the flight of Gemini 12 ends successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. splash down safely in the Atlantic. In 1969, a quarter of a million protesters stage a peaceful demonstration in Washington against the Vietnam War. In 1988, the Soviet Union launches its first space shuttle, Buran, on an unmanned 31‚Ñ2-hour flight. In 2003, a gangway on the cruise ship RMS Queen Mary 2 collapses in St. Nazaire, France, killing 15 people; Democrat Kathleen Blanco is elected the first female governor of Louisiana, defeating Republican Bobby Jindal in a runoff..

November 15, 1983: A line quickly forms outside the Sami Quick Stop service station in Girard which drops its price for gasoline to 96 cents per gallon. Motorists have been playing $1.17 recently.

The Ohio Department of Transportation approves construction of a new interchange at Salt Springs Road and Interstate 80 to provide better access from I-80 to the Weathersfield-McDonald area.

November 15, 1968: Two East Side youth plead innocent to burglary and carrying concealed weapons charges and are turned over to Trumbull County deputies who take them to Warren for questioning in the murder of a Farrell man, William Zelch, in Hubbard.

Syndicated columnist Art Buchwald tells a Junior League Town Hall audience at the State Theater that “Richard Nixon must no longer be referred to as ‘Tricky Dick.’” As president-elect, Nixon must be referred to as “crafty Richard.”

In a sign of the season, workers are erecting a 40-foot blue spruce for the Christmas Season in Central Square. The tree was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bubak of 839 E. Lucius Ave.

November 15, 1958: Juvenile Court Judge Henry P. Beckenbach uses the recently enacted Parental Responsibility Law on the parents of a 13-year-old boy with a record of thievery. The parents must post a $300 bond, which will be forfeited if he gets into trouble again.

State Sen. Charles J. Carney of Youngstown, who was elected to his fifth term, announces that he is a candidate for majority leader of the Senate.

Three Marine drill sergeants face court martial on charges of mistreating six recruits from Youngstown and Warren after parents of the Marines file complaints. The nature of the abuse was not released.

November 15, 1933: In addition to the $1 million shorn from the 1934 city budget by the county budget commission, the city probably will carry over into the new year an operating deficit of about $600,000. Those are the numbers that caused Mayor Mark Moore to announce the layoff of 200 city employees.

Gov. George White tells the newly created civil works administration that if it has the money ready, Ohio is ready to put as many as 76,000 men to work immediately.

William Harmon, 30, son of Dr. and Mrs Herbert Harmon of Grove City, is electrocuted while working on the KDKA radio station in Butler County.