On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 2006, the world population was approximately 6,671,452,015 people[†]
2006David B. Bleak, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1932)[†]
David Bruce Bleak was a soldier of the United States Army during the Korean War. Bleak rose to the rank of staff sergeant and was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration of the United States, for his actions near Minari-gol, South Korea, on 14 June 1952.
2006Desmond Doss, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1919)[†]
Desmond Thomas Doss was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. Due to his religious beliefs, he refused to carry a weapon.
2006Cindy Walker, American singer-songwriter and dancer (born 1918)[†]
Cindy Walker was an American songwriter, country music singer, and dancer. She wrote many popular and enduring songs recorded by many artists.
New fragrances are blended, positioned and marketed to appeal to both men and women; photos (M)
In the Spirit of American Ingenuity**Alessandra Stanley TV Watch column reviews reality show American Inventor in which contestants must go in front of panel of judges, often humiliating themselves, in hopes that their invention will ultimately win them $1 million; photo (M)
Issues arise over background of New York Republican senatorial hopeful Kathleen Troia McFarland; interviews with officials in Pres Ronald Reagan administration and review of documents show her claims about her role were not entirely accurate; photo (M)
When you enter a zoo, you usually know pretty much where you stand: there are trees or rocks, sunlight or windows, bars or glass or fences. Zoos have traditionally been extensions of public parks, offering exotic marvels safely contained on home turf. Even fish can sometimes be found in such terrain, swimming about as they did in the well-stocked ponds of ancient rulers. Aquariums, though, which developed in the mid-19th century along with public zoos, are a different story. But it might be difficult to see precisely why when visiting so new and grand an enterprise as the Georgia Aquarium, which opened here to great acclaim last November.
Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses New York Yankees player Johnny Damon, who faced former team Boston Red Sox in spring training game; photo (M)
Family of Romona Moore, Brooklyn murder victim, sees trend of her homicide being eclipsed by other events; verdict is reached in trial of one man accused in Moore murder but remains sealed until jury in case of other defendant begins deliberations; photos (M)
Eric Wilson column on return of full beards on both gay and straight men as backlash against heightened grooming expectations of metrosexuality; photos (M)
WB network will broadcast censored version of new drama The Bedford Diaries, but will offer uncensored version of pilot episode on its Web site; move comes after Federal Communications Commission issued millions of dollars in fines to stations that broadcasted 'indecent' content (M)
Global Times, a tabloid newspaper in China's capital, usually offers its readers a rich diet of nationalist propaganda on subjects like Japanese war crimes and American hegemony. So it is telling that it devoted its front page on Tuesday to respectful, even admiring, coverage of the China visit of two United States senators, Charles E. Schumer of New York and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who have attacked Beijing for ''illegal currency manipulation,'' ''mercantilism'' and ''failure to play by the rules.''
Bertelsmann, the global media empire, reported upbeat financial results on Wednesday, propelled by pop-culture sensations like the singer Kelly Clarkson and Dan Brown's thriller ''The Da Vinci Code.'' But the company's most talked-about suspense story continues to be its own. Senior executives of Bertelsmann, a family-controlled German company, turned away a barrage of questions at a news conference here about how it would respond to a plan by a minority shareholder, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, to push for an initial public offering, possibly later this year.
By midnight, as the temperature dropped ever lower and morning twilight was still five hours off, the core of Belarus's public opposition assumed its shape in the darkness. It was about 300 people, arms interlocked and forming a small, dense square, stomping on the frozen ground under a police cadre's contemptuous gaze. Behind them, inside their human box, another group of demonstrators held their banned flags overhead, a thicket of banners over 20 small tents. At any moment, the demonstrators said, they expected the police to rush forward, beat them with clubs and drag them off to the detention cells. And then their protest would end in blood.
General Motors reached a landmark agreement Wednesday with the United Automobile Workers intended to reduce sharply the ranks of a generation of auto workers long envied by other blue-collar workers for their wages and benefits. G.M., staggering under the weight of $10.6 billion in losses last year, said it would offer buyouts and early-retirement packages ranging from $35,000 to $140,000 to every one of its 113,000 unionized workers in the United States who agreed to leave the company.