On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 2000, the world population was approximately 6,171,702,993 people[†]
2000Femke Bol, Dutch hurdler and sprinter[†]
Femke Bol is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, where she is the 2023 World Champion, and in the 400 metres, where she is the 2024 World Indoor Champion and the short track world record holder. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.
2000Ofra Haza, Israeli singer-songwriter and actress (born 1957)[†]
Ofra Haza was an Israeli singer, songwriter, and actress, commonly known in the Western world as "the Madonna of the East", or "the Israeli Madonna". Her voice has been described as a "tender" mezzo-soprano. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Haza at number 186 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
2000Stanley Matthews, English footballer and manager (born 1915)[†]
Sir Stanley Matthews was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game and one of the greatest players of all time, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing football, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards. His nicknames included "The Wizard of Dribble" and "The Magician".
25,000 Jobs to Be Cut As Unilever Trims Costs Unilever, the world's leading maker of consumer goods, is cutting costs by eliminating 25,000 jobs over five years, closing 100 factories and possibly jettisoning up to 75 percent of its products. PAGE C1 Judge Sides With Homeless A state court ruled that the Giuliani administration could not bar single adults from shelters for failing to meet work requirements and other welfare eligibility rules. PAGE B1
Richard D Zanuck and his wife, Lili Fini Zanuck, new co-producers of 72d anual Academy Awards, comment on plans for this year's show; they are aware that Oscar show, while still very successful, has suffered audience erosion in last few years; producers, mindful of past disasters, are aiming for simplicity; photos of some memorable moments in past Oscar shows (L)
Jewish Museum San Francisco unveils design by Berlin-based architect Daniel Libeskind--his first project in United States--to be built in Yerba Buena cultural district downtown; museum is scheduled to reopen in renovated power station in 2002; drawing (M)
Rush-hour work-shift change by New York City taxi drivers, in effect since early 1980's, makes cabs almost impossible to find on streets of Manhattan at evening rush's start; increasingly noticeable and roundly reviled practice is result of industry policy adopted in 1979, when large fleets began leasing cabs to drivers instead of hiring them as employees and paying them on commission, and divided two 12-hour work shifts so there would be roughly equal number of drivers wanting to fill day and night shifts; start of work later in morning by day drivers would be too late for night drivers to reap benefits of busiest time of their shift when people leave work, resulting in fewer drivers willing to work at night; photos (M)
New York Mets left fielder Rickey Henderson reports to New York Mets spring-training camp in Port St Lucie, Fla; photo (M)
Sprouts of vegetables such as kohlrabi, beets, mustard, kale and daikon radishes are being harvested and showing up at Greenmarkets; for chefs, they mean a whole new medium to work with; frail as vegetable sprouts are, their flavor is powerful; recipe (M)
Frustrated college teacher's bad weekend. A cat's cradle of comic entanglements but often lifeless.
Space is so tight at Sisulu Children's Academy in Harlem, which opened in Sept 1999 as one of state's first three charter schools, that it may have to forgo plans to add another grade in fall to its student body, kindergarten through second grade; Steven B Klinsky, founder of Victory Schools Inc, which operates Sisulu, says that charter schools face as many hardships as most public school systems; how Victory responds to challenges could be crucial to New York State's fledgling charter school movement; photo (M)
National Hockey League suspends Marty McSorley of Boston Bruins indefinitely day after he hit Donald Brashear of Vancouver Canucks in head with his stick; Brashear has severe concussion; three Vancouver police detectives are assigned to case; photo (M)
Jury selection begins in second murder trial of Andrew Goldstein, schizophrenic man who pushed Kendra Webdale in front of Manhattan subway train on Jan 3, 1999; Goldstein's new court-appointed lawyers have advised him to go off his drugs in effort to demonstrate to jury debilitating effects of his mental illness; some experts describe defense tactic as desperate and unethical; Goldstein photo (M)
Securities and Exchange Commission accuses All-Tech Direct Inc, one of leading providers of rapid-fire day-trading services, of violating regulations governing practice of lending money to customers to buy stocks; Investment Street Co is accused of similar loan violations, indicating that practices of such firms remain under close scrutiny; SEC contends that David M Mobley Sr, manager of Maricopa Investment Fund Ltd and three related hedge funds, defrauded investors of at least $59 million; defendants in three cases listed; photo of All-Tech founder Harvey Houtkin (M)
Unilever PLC will embark on severe program of corporate cutbacks, eliminating 25,000 jobs over five years, closing 100 factories and possibly eliminating up to 75 percent of its products; announcement reflects growing trend by European companies to emulate cutbacks made by big American companies in 1990's to become more efficient and more profitable; changes are announced as Unilever reports that profits fell 5 percent last year; job cuts amount to 10 percent of global work force and cost of cuts in employment and factory closings will total $5 billion; co-chairman Antony Burgmans comments; charts; photos (M)