MILESTONES

By KATHLEEN ADAMS, MELISSA AUGUST, LINA LOFARO, MICHAEL QUINN, JEFFERY C. RUBIN, ALAIN L. SANDERS AND SIDNEY URQUHART

AILING. ERIC WRIGHT, 31, better known as Eazy-E, co-founder of early gangsta rap group N.W.A.; from AIDS; in Los Angeles. In critical condition, Wright did not know he had the disease until he was hospitalized three weeks ago for breathing problems.

AILING. CARL SAGAN, 60, mediagenic astronomer; from a rare bone-marrow disease; in Ithaca, New York. Sagan is taking a leave of absence from Cornell to seek treatment for the potentially cancerous condition.

RELEASED. JEFF STONE (NE GILLOOLY), 27, newly named ex-spouse of rogue skater Tonya Harding; from prison after serving a year for his role in arranging Nancy Kerrigan's knee clubbing; in Oregon.

DIED. AHMAD KHOMEINI, 48, militant son of the late Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini; after a heart attack; in Tehran. He played no official role but was considered the standard bearer of the Ayatullah's revolutionary preachings.

DIED. LEON DAY, 78, baseball player; in Baltimore, Maryland. Day was a pitching star in the Negro National League in the 1930s and '40s, known for striking out 18 players in a game. A week before his death, Day was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame.

DIED. ALBERT HACKETT, 95, stage- and screenwriter; in Manhattan. Hackett, with his first wife, Frances Goodrich, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1956 for their play The Diary of Anne Frank. Their more than 30 movies include The Thin Man and It's a Wonderful Life.

DIED. HERB MCCRACKEN, 95, college football coach; in Boynton Beach, Florida. During a 1924 game, Lafayette coach McCracken thwarted Penn's attempts to learn players' signals by ordering his team to form a tight group to discuss plays in secret. Many claim this was the birth of the huddle.