Today is Saturday, Nov. 28, the 332nd day of 2015. There are 33 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1520, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.

In 1861, the Confederate Congress admitted Missouri as the 12th state of the Confederacy after Missouri’s disputed secession from the Union.

In 1905, Sinn Fein (shin fayn) was founded in Dublin.

In 1922, Captain Cyril Turner of the Royal Air Force gave the first public skywriting exhibition, spelling out, “Hello USA. Call Vanderbilt 7200” over New York’s Times Square; about 47,000 calls in less than three hours resulted.

In 1942, nearly 500 people died in a fire that destroyed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston.

In 1958, Chad, Gabon and Middle Congo became autonomous republics within the French community.

In 1964, the United States launched the space probe Mariner 4 on a course toward Mars, which it flew past in July 1965, sending back pictures of the red planet.

In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford nominated federal judge John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court seat vacated by William O. Douglas.