On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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New Zealand's culinary heritage includes its farmers' commitment to producing good lamb; for New Zealanders, lamb has always been integral to daily diet; recipes; photos (L)
Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column discusses NFL's plans to institute 15-yard penalty for any choreographed celebrations involving two or more players during games; photo (M)
Pres Bush bows to growing political pressure and agrees to permit his national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify in public and under oath before independent commission investigating Sept 11 terrorist attacks; also drops strict terms for his and Vice Pres Cheney's interviews; announces major reversal, after weeks of refusal on separation of powers grounds, in brief appearance at White House; photo; furor grew after testimony by former counterrorism chief Richard A Clarke; commission agrees not to seek public testimony from other White House aides; Bush and Cheney will submit to joint private interview with all ten panel members without time limit, although not under oath; chairman Thomas Kean says Rice will be asked about development of anti-terrorism policy before attacks, her preception of threat then and her public remarks that have been disputed by others including Clarke and Cheney (M)
Profile of Glenn D Lowry, director of Museum of Modern Art, New York, since 1995, who is presiding over institution's massive reconstruction; critics praise his tough-minded approach to challenges raised by project; career highlights; photos (special section, Museums) (L)
Freight congestion has spread across Union Pacific railroad system, especially in Southern California and Southwest, raising concerns about delays in agricultural shipments and international trade if solution is not found before rail freight rush begins in late summer and fall; some railroad people in Southern California are calling situation small-scale meltdown; slowdown has not affected international trade through ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, but analysts are keeping wary eye on situation; severity of problem can be traced partly to Union Pacific's effort to provide premium service to United Parcel Service; UPS has begun new coast-to-coast premium service that requires high-speed train shipment to Dallas, Atlanta and New York; photo (M)
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of March 31, 2004, covering March 31, 2004.
Norah Jones
Cassidy
Evanescence
Jessica Simpson
Godsmack
2004Samson Baidoo, Austrian professional footballer[†]
Samson Baidoo is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg and the Austria national team.
2004Mateo Sanabria, Argentine professional footballer[†]
Mateo Sanabria is an Argentine footballer currently playing as a winger for Al Ain.
2004Alex Luna, Argentine professional footballer[†]
Alex Nahuel Luna is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Instituto, on loan from Atlético de Rafaela.
2004Scott Helvenston, American soldier (born 1965)[†]
Stephen "Scott" Helvenston was a United States Navy SEAL. He was working as a security contractor for Blackwater Security when he was killed in the 31 March 2004 Fallujah ambush within days of arriving in Iraq.
2004Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.[†]
The Anbar campaign consisted of fighting between the United States military, together with Iraqi security forces, and Sunni insurgents in the western Iraqi governorate of Al Anbar. The Iraq War lasted from 2003 to 2011, but the majority of the fighting and counterinsurgency campaign in Anbar took place between April 2004 and September 2007. Although the fighting initially featured heavy urban warfare primarily between insurgents and U.S. Marines, insurgents in later years focused on ambushing the American and Iraqi security forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), large scale attacks on combat outposts, and car bombings. Almost 9,000 Iraqis and 1,335 Americans were killed in the campaign, many in the Euphrates River Valley and the Sunni Triangle around the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.
In 2004, the world population was approximately 6,503,377,772 people[†]