Milestones

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Jeninne Lee-St. John

FILED FOR DIVORCE. Whitney Houston, 43, pop diva; from her husband, former New Edition singer Bobby Brown, 37; after a rocky 14-year marriage during which Brown did numerous stints in jail and Houston twice entered rehab for substance abuse; in Orange County, Calif. The couple, whose tumultuous relationship was on display on last year's reality-TV show Being Bobby Brown, have a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, 13. A six-time Grammy winner, Houston had a record seven consecutive No. 1 pop hits in the late '80s--including Saving All My Love for You and How Will I Know--but hasn't put out an album since '02.

SENTENCED. Lynne Stewart, 67, civil rights lawyer known for her frequent pro bono work and defense of prominent clients including mobster Sammy (the Bull) Gravano and members of the left-wing terrorist Weathermen; to 28 months in jail for aiding terrorism by relaying messages from her client Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman--who is serving a life term for plotting to blow up New York City landmarks--to his militant allies; in New York City. Prosecutors had sought a 30-year term. Stewart, who is battling breast cancer, said the ruling was a "great victory against an overreaching government."

REPAYMENT ORDERED. For Richard Grasso, 60, former New York Stock Exchange chairman ousted in 2003 amid outrage over the disclosure of his $140 million compensation package; of as much as $100 million of that compensation; by a state supreme court judge; in New York City. The ruling, which Grasso said he would appeal, coincided with other big news from Wall Street: the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 12,000-point mark for the first time.

DIED. Winifred Bennett, 71, who, at a dinner party, breezily suggested to a friend, retired pathologist Eugene Foster, that DNA tests might show whether Thomas Jefferson fathered children with his slave Sally Hemings--which prompted Foster and a team of scientists to investigate and make world news by confirming a familial connection; of kidney failure; in Arlington, Va. The Foster team found that a male Jefferson, probably Thomas, had fathered at least one of Hemings' children. But the finding pre-empted Bennett's plans for a book on the topic--and ended her friendship with Foster.

DIED. Herbert Leonard, 84, producer who created the seminal 1950s-'60s small-screen gems Naked City (New York crime tales); Route 66 (guys roam the U.S. in a Corvette convertible); and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (stories of an orphan and his dog in the Old West); in Los Angeles.

DIED. Wang Guangmei, 85, elegant former first lady of China who was targeted during the Cultural Revolution; in Beijing. Wang suffered because of a falling out between her husband ex-President Liu Shaoqi and Mao Zedong--which landed Liu in jail, where he died--as well as the jealous rage of Mao's wife Jiang Qing. The well-educated Wang was also imprisoned and once suffered a public parade in which she was forced to wear a necklace of Ping-Pong balls.

DIED. Gillo Pontecorvo, 86, Italian director of The Battle of Algiers, considered a masterpiece of political cinema; in Rome. With its shaky camera work and mostly nonprofessional actors, the 1966 film offered a gritty, documentary-style portrait of Algeria's fight for independence. Banned for years in France, it was hailed by critics, nominated for three Academy Awards and lauded as a strategic model by militant groups like the Black Panthers.

DIED. Marc Hodler, 87, courtly Swiss lawyer who rocked the insular International Olympic Committee in 1998 by telling reporters that I.O.C. members had solicited bribes from cities vying to play host to the Games--prompting sweeping reforms in the organization; in Bern, Switzerland. The I.O.C. elder statesman said he was motivated by his concern for the "honor of the Olympics."

DIED. Alvin Weinberg, 91, nuclear scientist who, as director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, coined the term Big Science--a reference to impending scientific advances--and later advocated vigorously for commercial nuclear energy; in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

DIED. Jeff Getty, 49, AIDS patient and activist who agitated for experimental medical treatments; of cardiac arrest; in Joshua Tree, Calif. In 1995, after a loud two-year fight for FDA approval, Getty received bone-marrow cells from a baboon--the first animal-to-human bone-marrow transplant--to boost his immune system. Though his body rejected the cells and the FDA later banned such transplants, he used his visibility to fight on--most significantly and successfully to get more doctors to perform organ transplants on AIDS patients, whose prognoses were often deemed too bleak to justify such surgery.

LAWSUIT FILED. By Yoko Ono, 73, avant-garde, Dadaesque performer once described by her husband John Lennon as "the world's most famous unknown artist"; against EMI and its Capitol Records subsidiary for breach of contract by allegedly stealing royalties from Lennon's estate; in New York City. In a vague three-page filing, Ono accused the company--which is also being sued by representatives of the Beatles on similar grounds--of "abus[ing] the nearly half-century-old relationship of trust and confidence by willfully and knowingly underreporting royalties" from sales of Lennon's solo albums. Now all she needs is love. Well, not really. She is seeking $10 million in damages.