Milestones

By Melissa August, Ann Marie Bonardi, Amanda Bower, Ellin Martens, Joseph Pierro, Sora Song, Heather Won Tesoriero and Josh Tyrangiel

RECORD SET. ALAN WEBB, 18, Virginia distance-running phenom who raced a mile in 3:53.43, shattering the 36-year-old U.S. high school record of 3:55.3 set by Kansas Congressman Jim Ryun; in Eugene, Ore.

POSTHUMOUSLY PARDONED. JOHN SNOWDEN, African-American ice-wagon worker who was hanged in 1919 for the murder of a pregnant white woman despite doubtful evidence and pleas by 11 of the 12 jurors for his sentence to be commuted; after the second request for clemency by residents of a city historically divided by race; by Governor Parris Glendening; in Annapolis, Md.

DIED. NKOSI JOHNSON, 12, sweetly tenacious South African AIDS activist born HIV-positive, befriended by world leaders after addressing the 13th International AIDS Conference last July and pleading for compassion and treatment for afflicted children, babies and pregnant women; in Johannesburg. Shortly before he died, he wrote, "I wish I was well...Then I would be able to grow up."

DIED. FAISAL HUSSEINI, 60, leading PLO official in Jerusalem and peace advocate who pushed for a city open to both Israelis and Palestinians; of a heart attack; in Kuwait. Often mentioned as Yasser Arafat's possible successor, Husseini mastered Hebrew as an Israeli political prisoner in the 1980s and played an integral role in the landmark 1991 Madrid peace conference.

DIED. JOE MOAKLEY, 74, a 15-term Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts; of leukemia; in Bethesda, Md. South Boston-born and--bred, Moakley often fought for federal funds on behalf of his hometown, cleaning up Boston Harbor and rerouting a major city highway. In 1989 he headed an investigation into the deaths of six Jesuit priests and their companions in El Salvador, a probe that helped end U.S. military aid to that country.

DIED. HANK KETCHAM, 81, creator of the impish cartoon character Dennis the Menace and his crotchety neighbor Mr. Wilson; in Pebble Beach, Calif. Ketcham conceived the strip in October 1950 after his own mischievous four-year-old, named Dennis, caused his exasperated mother to exclaim to Ketcham, "Your son is a menace!" (Father and son were later estranged.) In 1951 Ketcham began drawing the strip, which ran for 50 years in 1,000 newspapers and 48 countries.

DIED. IMOGENE COCA, 92, wide-eyed, winsome comedian and Sid Caesar's co-star in the 1950s television classic Your Show of Shows; in Westport, Conn. Petite in stature but possessed of outsize energy, Coca won an Emmy in 1952 for her subtly satirical performance on the show, which aired live for 90 minutes on Saturday nights and during which Coca and Caesar, without the aid of cue cards, acted out skits lampooning marriage, everyday life and popular culture.

DIED. ARLENE FRANCIS, 93, witty 1950s television personality and fixture on the show What's My Line?; in San Francisco. Francis appeared in movies, on Broadway (the 1942 comedy The Doughgirls) and as TV co-host of the 1950s morning show Home. But she found her highest calling guessing other people's occupations for 25 years as a panelist on one of television's classic game shows.