On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 2004, the world population was approximately 6,503,377,772 people[†]
2004Ken Downing, English race car driver (born 1917)[†]
Kenneth Henry Downing was a British racing driver. From a wealthy family connected to G.H. Downing & Co., he began racing as a privateer in the late 1940s, and with Connaught in 1951, winning 17 races throughout the year. He then competed in the 1952 Formula One championship.
2004Darrell Johnson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1928)[†]
Darrell Dean Johnson was an American professional catcher, coach, manager and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a manager, he led the 1975 Boston Red Sox to the American League pennant, and was named "Manager of the Year" by both The Sporting News and the Associated Press.
Jennifer Dunning reviews New York City Ballet's all-Balanchine tribute to City Ballet alumni; photo (M)
Anthony Tommasini Critic's Notebook column assesses performance of Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine in light of concern raised by orchestra members about his diminished agility and lapses in concentration; photo (M)
Foreign advances in basic science are rivaling or even exceeding America's, apparently with little public awareness of trend or its implications for jobs, industry, national security or vigor of nation's intellectual and cultural life; analysts say profits from breakthroughs are likely to stay overseas, leaving United States to face competition for hiring scientific talent and getting space to showcase its work in top journals; another downturn centers on Nobel Prizes; American share has fallen in 2000's to 51 percent; federal research budgets are still at record highs, but analysts question whether big spending automatically translates into big rewards, as it did in past; graphs (M)
Safeway Plans to Name 3 Independent Directors Safeway, the national supermarket chain, is planning to announce today that it will name three new independent directors and establish a lead independent director position. The company has been under fire from some big pension funds that are seeking to withhold votes against its board at the company's annual meeting later this month. The plan is part of a company initiative to win back support from a group of big shareholders that have said they plan to withhold votes against Safeway's chairman and chief executive, Steven Burd, and two other board members. The group contends that Safeway shareholders have lost $20 billion in value over the last five years and that the board is rife with conflicts of interest. [Page C3.]
Profile of and interview with Colombian artist Fernando Botero, 72, who has turned from capturing whimsey of life to depicting Colombia's brutal, drug-fueled 40-year-old guerrilla war; Botero, who donated paintings to National Museum of Colombia, says he hopes to show public the absurdity of violence; photos (M)
News analysis discusses future direction of Google, a topic Google omitted from its filing for initial public stock offering; holds Google has secret plans to extend information-searching in many directions; says it is moving down to confront Microsoft from its giant computing resources, world's largest, as Microsoft moves up from its monopoly Windows desktop operating system to so-called Web-based services; says two companies will likely compete over new and immature markets (M)
Joe Drape Horse Racing Analysis discusses Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones, which won race easily, but still shows signs that he might not be Triple Crown material; photos (M)
Joyce Purnick Metro Matters column discusses planned makeover of Bronx Terminal Market (NYC), which will turn 30-year-old, deteriorated and outdated commercial food stalls that have come to cater largely to West African immigrants, into new retail center, park and espenade (M)
Senate Democrats, shut out of Congressional negotiations on important bills last year, are blocking House-Senate negotiations on other bills unless they are guaranteed voice in writing final legislation; tactic has infuriated Republicans and contributed to election-year paralysis as House and Senate struggle to work out compromises needed to make law; most visible example of Democratic strategy is highway bill, which is said to be in complete stalemate because Democrats are blocking creation of conference committee to resolve differences over bill that has bipartisan support; Sen Tom Daschle says Republicans seek to make very partisan decisions about level of commitment to highways without giving Democrats opportunity to participate; Republicans accuse Democrats of trying to usurp power of Republican majorities in both houses, while Democrats accuse Republican leaders of abusing conference process by excluding Democrats and, in some cases, by disregarding sentiments expressed by both houses of Congress; photo (M)
Companies like US Digital Television in Salt Lake City are using surplus bandwidth from local broadcasters to offer subscribers high-quality picture and premium channels over air, without need for cable or satellite, at relatively low cost; US Digital chairman and chief executive Steven R Lindsley says excess bandwidth could shift power back to broadcasters in their competition with cable; other stations are finding different ways to profit from improvements in digital signal compression that leave them with extra bandwith; photo (M)
New Jersey Nets prepare for second-round playoff series against Detroit Pistons (M)
For 20 years, Kevin O'Connor has taught science in the Roosevelt School District, one of the state's most troubled. He has watched dozens of principals and superintendents come and go. Some, he says, quit in frustration. Others were forced out. They tried their best, but not one could remedy the chronically low test scores, the discipline problems or the financial woes that had plagued the Roosevelt district for years.