November 15

1630: German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who formulated the three major laws of planetary motion, died. 1806: Explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop in Colorado now known as "Pikes Peak." 1887: German scientist Carl Gassner was issued a patent for the first "galvanic battery," or, dry cell, which used zinc as its primary ingredient. 1819: Scottish chemist Daniel Rutherford, who discovered nitrogen, died. 1904: Patent #775,134 was granted to King Gillette for the safety razor. 1965: American engineer Allen Du Mont, who invented the first commercial cathode ray tube, died. 1971: Intel announced its first microprocessor, the 4004, in a edition of Electronic News magazine. 1988: The Soviet Union launched its first space shuttle, Buran ("Snowstorm"), unmanned, on its first and only orbital flight. 2000: The Southern Cross broadband cable went into service, connecting Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and the U.S. west coast over a distance of 30,500 km.