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Antoine Rigaudeau

Antoine Rigaudeau

Antoine Rigaudeau (born December 17, 1971 in France), nicknamed Le Roi (The King), is a French Basketball player. In Autumn 2000, Antoine Rigaudeau was appointed as "Chevalier" (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur by French President. In 2001, before European Championship he retired from international basketball after 110 appearances with the French National Team, but he decided to come back for the Eurobasket 2005.

Clubs

- in France
- Cholet Basket (1978-1995)
- Élan Béarnais Pau Orthez (1995-1997)
- in Italy
- Virtus Bologna (1997-2003)
- in USA
- Dallas Mavericks (NBA) (2003)
- in Spain
- Pamesa Valencia (since 2003)

Honours

With the French national team
- Sylver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games
- Bronze medal at the 2005 European Championship In clubs
- with Élan Béarnais Pau Orthez
- French Champion: 1996
- with Virtus Bologna
- Italy Champion: 1998, 2000
- Euroleague: 1998, 2001
- Saporta Cup: 2000
- ULEB Cup: 2001
- Italian Cup: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Personal honours
- French MVP: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996
- European All Star: 1998, 1999 Rigaudeau, Antoine Rigaudeau, Antoine Rigaudeau, Antoine

December 17

December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 14 days remaining.

Events

- 283 - St Gaius becomes Pope.
- 384 - St Siricius becomes Pope.
- 1586 - The reign of Emperor Go-Yozei, the 107th imperial ruler of Japan, begins.
- 1637 - The Shimabara Rebellion breaks out in Japan.
- 1777 - France becomes the first nation to recognize the United States.
- 1843 - "A Christmas Carol", a fictional short story by Charles Dickens, is first published.
- 1862 - General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
- 1903 - First powered flight, by the Wright Brothers.
- 1919 - Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1935 - First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
- 1939 - German battleship Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo four days after the Battle of the River Plate.
- 1941 - German siege of Sevastopol begins
- 1944 - Western Defense Command issues proclamation ending requirement of Japanese internment.
- 1944 - In what became known as the Malmédy massacre, around 80 American POW are executed by Waffen-SS troops of Jochen Peiper’s Kampfgruppe.
- 1961 - India seizes Goa from Portugal
- 1961 - A fire at a circus in Niteroi, Brazil kills 323 people.
- 1967 - Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908) disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria
- 1969 - The U.S. Air Force announces that its UFO investigations have found no evidence of extraterrestrial spacecraft.
- 1969 - SALT I talks begin
- 1970 - My Lai trial begins
- 1970 - Coastal cities events Mass riots in the coastal cities of Poland ended in massacre of shipyard workers in Gdynia
- 1973 - The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.
- 1978 - The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe.
- 1981 - U.S. army officer James Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy
- 1983 - A fire at a night club in Madrid kills 82.
- 1989 - The first episode of The Simpsons airs on the Fox network
- 1989 - Brazil holds its first free election in 25 years.
- 1989 - Full-scale street manifestations and riots in Timisoara ignite the Romanian Revolution
- 1997 - A chartered Yakovlev-42 from Ukraine crashes into the mountains near Katerini, Greece killing 70
- 1998 - Claudia Benton is murdered in her West University, Texas home by Angel Maturino Resendiz. She is his fifth murder victim in his fourth incident.
- 2002 - A peace accord is signed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- 2003 - First supersonic flight by Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne
- 2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the third and final film in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, opens in theaters.

Births

- 1239 - Kujo Yoritsugu, Japanese shogun (d. 1256)
- 1267 - Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324)
- 1619 - Prince Rupert, Royalist commander in the English Civil War (d. 1682)
- 1632 - Anthony Wood, English antiqurian (d. 1695)
- 1685 - Thomas Tickell, English writer (d. 1740)
- 1706 - Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
- 1734 - Maria I of Portugal, Portuguese queen (d. 1816)
- 1749 - Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801)
- 1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German Composer (d. 1827)
- 1778 - Humphry Davy, English chemist (d. 1829)
- 1787 - Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech anatomist (d. 1869)
- 1796 - Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
- 1799 - Titian Peale, American artist (d. 1885)
- 1807 - John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892)
- 1830 - Jules de Goncourt, French publisher (d. 1870)
- 1853 - Herbert Beerbohm Tree, English actor (d. 1917)
- 1853 - Emile Roux, French physician (d. 1933)
- 1859 - Paul César Helleu, French artist (d. 1927)
- 1872 - Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
- 1873 - Ford Madox Ford, English writer (d. 1939)
- 1874 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, tenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950)
- 1887 - Josef Lada, Czech painter (d. 1957)
- 1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
- 1892 - Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
- 1893 - Erwin Piscator, German film director (d. 1966)
- 1894 - Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
- 1901 - Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor and director (d. 1982)
- 1903 - Erskine Caldwell, American author (d. 1987)
- 1903 - Ray Noble, English musician
- 1906 - Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier (d. 2002)
- 1908 - Willard Frank Libby, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
- 1911 - André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
- 1916 - Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000)
- 1929 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (d. 1993)
- 1929 - William Safire, American columnist
- 1930 - Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher
- 1930 - Bob Mathias, American athlete
- 1930 - Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
- 1938 - Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian musician
- 1938 - Peter Snell, New Zealand athlete
- 1939 - Eddie Kendricks, American musician (d. 1992)
- 1941 - Gene Clark, American musician (d. 1991)
- 1942 - Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987)
- 1943 - Ron Geesin, Scottish musician
- 1943 - Lauren Hutton, American model and actress
- 1944 - Jack L. Chalker, Canadian novelist
- 1944 - Bernard Hill, English actor
- 1945 - Elvin Hayes, American basketball player
- 1945 - Ernie Hudson, American actor
- 1949 - Paul Rodgers, British singer (Free)
- 1951 - Ken Hitchcock, Canadian hockey coach
- 1955 - Brad Davis, American basketball player
- 1966 - Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
- 1968 - Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
- 1970 - Joshua Seth, American voice actor and hypnotist
- 1971 - Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
- 1971 - Alan Khan, South African Radio DJ and breakfast TV host on am2day
- 1973 - Paula Radcliffe, English runner
- 1975 - Nick Dinsmore, American professional wrestler
- 1975 - Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress and model
- 1979 - J M McDermott, American Fantasy Novelist
- 1981 - Alexander R. Scott, American artist

Deaths

- 1187 - Pope Gregory VIII
- 1195 - Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)
- 1273 - Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, Persian poet and mystic (b. 1207)
- 1663 - Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)
- 1721 - Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)
- 1763 - Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony (b. 1722)
- 1812 - Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
- 1830 - Simón Bolívar, Latin American politician and activist (b. 1783)
- 1897 - Alphonse Daudet, French writer (b. 1840)
- 1907 - William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (b. 1824)
- 1909 - King Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
- 1917 - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician (b. 1836)
- 1957 - Dorothy L. Sayers, English writer (b. 1893)
- 1964 - Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
- 1987 - Irving Allen, American producer (b. 1916)
- 1987 - Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
- 1992 - Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
- 1998 - Claudia Benton, Peruvian child psychologist (b. 1959)
- 1999 - Grover Washington Jr., American musician (b. 1943)
- 2003 - Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
- 2003 - Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

- National Day in Bhutan (1907)
- Roman Empire - Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, began.
- Wright Brothers Day-US (by Presidential Proclamation)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/17 BBC: On This Day] ---- December 16 - December 18 - November 17 - January 17 -- listing of all days ko:12월 17일 ms:17 Disember ja:12月17日 simple:December 17 th:17 ธันวาคม

Autumn

Autumn (also fall in North American English) is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition from summer into winter. In the temperate zones, autumn is the season during which most crops are harvested, and deciduous trees lose their leaves. It is also the season in which the days rapidly get shorter and cooler (especially in the northern latitudes), and of gradually increasing precipitation in some parts of the world. Astronomically, it begins with the autumnal equinox (around September 23 in the Northern hemisphere, and March 21 in the southern hemisphere), and ends with the winter solstice (around December 21 in the Northern hemisphere and June 21 in the Southern hemisphere). However, meteorologists count the entire months of March, April and May in the Southern hemisphere, and September, October and November in the Northern hemisphere as autumn. An exception to these definitions is found in the Irish Calendar which still follows the Celtic cycle, where Autumn is counted as the whole months of August, September and October. Although the days begin to shorten in July or August in the northern latitudes and in January and February in the south, it is usually in September or March where twilight becomes evidently shorter and more abrupt in comparison with the more lingering ones of summer. October Autumn is often defined as the start of the school year in most countries, since they usually begin in early September or early March (depending on the latitude). Either definition, as with those of the seasons generally, is flawed because it assumes that the seasons are all of the same length, and begin and end at the same time throughout the temperate zone of each hemisphere.

Autumn in popular culture

October Autumn's association with the transition from warm to cold weather in the northern hemisphere, and its related status as the season of the primary harvest, has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western cultures, personifications of Autumn are usually pretty, well-fed females decked out with fruits, vegetables and grains that ripen at this time. Most ancient cultures featured autumnal celebrations of the harvest, often the most important on their calendars. Still extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the late-Autumn Thanksgiving holiday of the United States, the Jewish Sukkot holiday with its roots as a full moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (huts wherein the harvest was processed and which later gained religious significance), the many North American Indian festivals tied to harvest of autumnally ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn or Moon festival, and many others. The predominant mood of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the earth mixed with a certain melancholy linked to the imminence of harsh weather. Remembrance of ancestors is also a common theme. In modern times, apart from being the start of the school year, it is one of the seasons in which the film industry starts releasing movies that are usually low-budget in scope, but worthy of artistic achievement at academic institutions such as the Oscars and the BAFTA awards (whose award ceremonies are held in late-February). Such movies are considered low-key, deeper in content and more serious than their big-budget, effects-laden summer counterparts. Autumn, which begins on the weekend following Labor day and ends—every 4 years—on the weekend before the US elections, is the shortest and least profitable season of the movies. Autumn is also associated with the Halloween season, and with it a widespread marketing campaign that promotes it. The film and music industries use this time of year to promote movies and records that closely associate with such holiday, and their releases begin in early September but no later than October 28, since their themes rapidly lose strength once the holidays ends. Autumn, like spring, is highly unpredictable and, in many regions, it is also short. Temperatures in September can get above 86°F (30°C) and with the heat index, it may make for dangerous conditions regarding people neglecting them-selves in regard to heat stroke (hyperthermia) risks. In October, especially in the northern lattitudes, there maybe some cold snaps and a mix of rain and snow, although permanent snow cover is usually not established until mid-November.

Autumn and tourism

hyperthermia hyperthermia Eastern Canada and the New England region of the United States are famous around the world for the brilliance of their "fall foliage," and a seasonal tourist industry has grown up around the few weeks in autumn when the leaves are at their peak. Some television and web-based weather forecasts even report on the status of the fall foliage throughout the season as a service to tourists. Fall foliage tourists are often referred to as "leaf peepers". The mix of coniferous and deciduous tree forest in Canada make for a multi-colored display. The image on the right is taken in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Canada

External links

- [http://www.home2garden.org/new-england-fall-foliage.html New England fall foliage, tour, report.]
- [http://landscaping.about.com/od/fallfoliagetrees/ Fall Foliage Trees] Information on fall foliage trees for home landscaping, including pictures.
- [http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/fallcolor/trees.html "The Mirage of Fall - Foliage Trees"] at University of Wisconsin has fall pictures of around 50 trees and 20 shrubs
- [http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/fall/biglist_frame.cfm Virginia Tech's picture gallery] from their dendrology department with over 100 images of trees and shrubs
- [http://www.housatonicnet.com/foliage/index.htm Fall Foliage Pictures] A sample of fall foliage from Western Connecticut
- [http://www.oulu.fi/northnature/english/englanti/ajankohtsyksy.html Autumn of animals and plants in Finland] by Northern Nature Project Category:Seasons ja:秋

2000

This article is about the year 2000. For other uses of 2000, see 2000 (number) or 2000 (breakdancing move). 2000 (MM) is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. Popular culture also holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium. By strict interpretation of the Gregorian Calendar, however, this distinction falls to the year 2001. This is due to the fact that the first century began with the year 1, and there does not exist a year zero. The first century (or first 100 years AD) was from January 1, in the year one (1 AD) through December 31, in the year one-hundred (100 AD). The second century began on January 1, in the year one-hundred and one (101 AD). The year 2000 is also marked as:
- The International Year for a Culture of Peace.
- The World Mathematical Year. See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Events

January

- January 1 - Millennium celebrations take place throughout the world. Y2K passes without the serious, widespread computer failures and malfunctions that had been predicted.
- January 5-January 8 - The 2000 al-Qaida Summit
- January 6 - The last remaining Pyrenean Ibex is found dead.
- January 10 - America On-line announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for $162 billion. This is the largest-ever corporate merger.
- January 11 - the armed wing of Islamic Salvation Front concludes its negotiations with the government for an amnesty and disbands in Algeria.
- January 11 - The trawler Solway Harvester sinks off the Isle of Man.
- January 14 - A United Nations tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of over 100 Bosnian Muslims in a Bosnian village.
- January 16 - In Sacramento, California a commercial truck carrying evaporated milk is driven into the state capitol building killing the driver.
- January 24 - God's Army, Karen militia group led by twins Johnny and Luther Htoo, take 700 hostages at a Thai hospital near the Burmese border.
- January 30 - St. Louis Rams 23 defeat the Tennessee Titans 16 to win the Super_Bowl_XXXIV
- January 30 - Off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169. Within a day, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes off the California coast into the Pacific Ocean, killing 88.
- January 31 - Dr. Harold Shipman in sentenced to life in prison for murder of at least 15 of his patients out of 365 suspected victims.

February

- February 4 - German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with sabotage of German railway lines.
- February 6 - Tarja Halonen is elected the first Finnish female president.
- February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published.
- February 14 - The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker entered orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

March

- March 1 - The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.
- March 2 - Hans Blix assumes the position of Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC.
- March 8 - Tokyo train disaster.
- March 9 - FBI arrests suspected purveyor of art forgeries, Ely Sakhai, in New York City.
- March 10 - The NASDAQ Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5048. ([http://dynamic.nasdaq.com/dynamic/IndexChart.asp?symbol=IXIC&desc=NASDAQ+Composite&sec=nasdaq&site=nasdaq&months=84])
- March 18 - 2000 Taiwanese presidential election: Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
- March 20 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured after gun battle that left a sheriff's deputy dead.
- March 21 - Pope John Paul II began the first office visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel.
- March 21 - US Supreme Court ruled the goverment lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, throwing out the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative.
- March 26 - Presidential elections in Russia: Vladimir Putin elected President.
- March 30 - America's Cup 2000 retained by Team New Zealand near Auckland. Prada Challenge 2000 lost 0-5 in a "best-of-9".

April

April.]]
- April 1 - Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi suffers a stroke and falls into a coma.
- April 3 - United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
- April 5 - Yoshiro Mori replaces Obuchi as prime minister of Japan.
- April 7 - Attack submarine ex-Trepang completes being recycled.
- April 16 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, Raja of Perlis dies after a reign of 55 years. He was the longest reigning monarch in the world since the death of Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein.
- April 17 - Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin becomes Raja of Perlis.
- April 22 - In a predawn raid, federal agents seize six-year old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, DC ending one of the most publicized custody battles in US history.
- April 25 - The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing Civil Unions for same-sex couples.

May

- May 3 - A rare conjunction occurs on the New Moon including all seven of the traditional celestial bodies known from ancient times up until 1781 with the discovery of Uranus. The May 2000 conjunction consisted of: the Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
- May 3 - Computer pioneer Datapoint Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- May 12 - The Tate Modern opens in London.
- May 13 - In Enschede a heavy fireworks explosion kills 20 and leaves an entire neighborhood in ruins.
- May 18 - Boo.com collapses due to lack of funds after six months.
- May 25 - Israel withdraws IDF troops from southern Lebanon after 22 years.
- May 28 - The volcano Mount Cameroon erupts.

June

- June 1 - Mark Mendlan, professional wrestler known by his ring name "Kid Gorgeous," is killed while wrestling at a show in New Hampshire.
- June 7 - U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the 4th circuit ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp.
- June 10 - The New Jersey Devils defeat the Dallas Stars 4 games to 2 to win the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 10 - The 2000 European Football Championship begins, hosted jointly by Belgium and the Netherlands.
- June 21 - Section 28, a law preventing the promotion of homosexuality is repealed by the Scottish Parliament.
- June 23 - Palace Backpackers Hostel fire in Childers, Queensland, Australia, kills 15 people.
- June 30 - During a set of the band Pearl Jam at the Roskilde Festival near Copenhagen, 9 die and 26 are injured in the crowd.

July

July
- July 2 - France beat Italy 2-1 to win the 2000 European Football Championship with a golden goal.
- July 2 - Presidential election of Mexico. Vicente Fox wins the Presidency as candidate of the rightist PAN (National Action Party).
- July 10 - In southern Nigeria, a leaking petroleum pipeline explodes killing about 250 villagers who were scavenging gasoline
- July 10 - Death of Denis O Conor Donn, died 10th July 2000, aged 88; succeded by his son, Desmond as The O Connor Donn
- July 18 - Alex Salmond resigns as the leader of the Scottish National Party
- July 25 - A Concorde carrying Air France Flight 4590 crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 5 on the ground.

August

- August 1 - The Santa Cruz Operation announced that it will sell its Server Software and Services Divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, to Caldera Systems,Inc.
- August 8 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
- August 12 - The Russian submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea, resulting in the deaths of all 118 men on board.
- August 14 - The first comic of Megatokyo goes online. This webcomic will later become one of the most popular comics on the web (in terms of page views) and spawn numerous imitators.
- August 25 - the Emulex hoax - wire services publish fraudulent bad news about Emulex
- August 27 - The Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.

September

- September 5 - Tuvalu joins the United Nations.
- September 6 - In New York City, the United Nations Millennium Summit begins with more than 180 world leaders present.
- September 6 - The last wholly Swedish-owned arms manufacturer, Bofors, is sold to American arms manufacturer United Defense
- September 7–14 - The UK fuel protests take place, with refineries blockaded, and supply to the country's network of petrol stations halted.
- September 8 - Albania officially joins the World Trade Organization.
- September 15 - The 2000 Summer Olympics are opened in Sydney, Australia.
- September 16 - Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze is last seen alive; this day is taken as the commemoration date of his death.
- September 24 - The American Family Association begins lobbying the U.S. Congress to eradicate the National Endowment for the Arts for funding the controversial book One of the Guys by Robert Clark Young
- September 26 - Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 15,000 protesters) turned violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.
- September 28 - Ariel Sharon leads several hundred armed Israelis in a visit to the Temple Mount. Palestinian civil disorder increases into the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
- September 29 - The Long Kesh prison in Northern Ireland is closed.

October

- October 2 NBC Today Show expanded it to three hours (7:00–10:00 A.M. Eastern Time/Pacific Time; 6:00–9:00 A.M. Central Time/Mountain Time)
- October 5 - President Slobodan Milošević leaves office after widespread demonstrations throughout Serbia and the withdrawal of Russian support.
- October 11 - 250 million gallons of coal sludge spill in Martin County, Kentucky. Considered a greater environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
- October 12 - In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole is badly damaged by two suicide bombers who placed a small boat laden with explosives along-side the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.
- October 21 15 Arab leaders convened in Cairo, Egypt, for their first summit in four years; the Libyan delegation walked out, angry over signs the summit would stop short of calling for breaking ties with Israel.
- October 22 – Mainichi Shinbun exposes Japanese archeologist Shinichi Fujimura as a fraud; Japanese archaeologists had based their treatises of his findings.
- October 26 - Pakistani authorities announce that their police have found an apparently ancient mummy of a persian princess in the province of Baluchistan. Iran, Pakistan and the Taliban all claim the mummy until Pakistan announces it is a forgery in April 17 2001
- October 31 - Singapore Airlines Flight 006 collides with construction equipment in the Chiang Kai Shek International Airport - 83 dead.
- October 31 - The last Jeremy clone has shut down.

November

November
- November - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq rejects new U.N. Security Council weapons inspections proposals
- November 1 - Yugoslavia's new democratic government joined the United Nations after eight years of U.N. ostracism under former strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
- November 3 - Widespread flooding throughout England and Wales after days of heavy rain
- November 4 - President Clinton vetoed a bill that would have criminalized the leaking of government secrets.
- November 7 - U.S. presidential election, 2000: Republican challenger George W. Bush defeats Democrat Vice President Al Gore, but the final outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.
- November 7 - Criminal gang raids the Millennium Dome to steal The Millennium Star diamond but police surveillance catches them in the act
- November 7 - Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office
- November 11 - Kaprun disaster, Austria, where 155 skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel.
- November 13 - Richard C. Duncan presents his paper, "The Peak Of World Oil Production And The Road To The Olduvai Gorge", on the Olduvai theory (about the collapse of the industrial civilization), at the Summit 2000 Pardee Keynote Symposia of the Geological Society of America)
- November 14 - Netscape version 6.0 is launched following two years of open source development creating a stable Mozilla web browser upon which it is based
- November 16 - Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting US President to visit Vietnam
- November 17 - Catastrophical landslide in Log pod Mangartom,Slovenia, kills 7, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophies in Slovenia in the past 100 years.
- November 17 - Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru
- November 27 - Canada - Parliamentary elections - Jean Chrétien re-elected as Prime Minister as Liberal Party increases majority in House of Commons
- November 28 - Ukrainian politician Oleksander Moroz touches off the Cassette Scandal by publicly accusing President Leonid Kuchma of involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

December

- December 1 - Mexico - Vicente Fox becomes the first opposition President to take office since Francisco I. Madero in 1911. He wins the Presidency as candidate of the rightist PAN (National Action Party).
- December 28 - U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
- December 30 - Rizal Day Bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines, within a span of a few hours killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.

Unknown Date

- Limited reintroduction of routinely armed police in the UK for the first time since 1936.
- Scientists at University of Szeged's laboratory were first in the world to produce artificial heredity material.
- Millie I. Webb elected president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Births

- February 23 - Max & Sam Christy, American actors
- March 15- Amy and Emily Walton, English actresses
- April 25 - Jacob & Joshua Rips, American actors
- October 6 - Amanda Pace, American actress
- October 20 - Cooper and Oliver Guynes, American actors
- November 8 - Madison and Marissa Poer, actresses

Deaths

January

- January 2 - Patrick O'Brian, English writer (b. 1914)
- January 15 - Fran Ryan, American actress (b. 1916)
- January 19 - Bettino Craxi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1934)
- January 19 - Hedy Lamarr, Austrian actress (b. 1913)

February

- February 9 - Beau Jack, American boxer (b. 1921)
- February 11 - Roger Vadim, French film director (b. 1928)
- February 12 - Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins, American musician (b. 1929)
- February 12 - Tom Landry, American football coach (b. 1924)
- February 12 - Charles M. Schulz, American comic strip artist (b. 1921)
- February 23 - Sir Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)

April

- April 6 - Habib Bourguiba, President of Tunisia (b. 1903)
- April 16 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, King of Malaysia (b. 1920)
- April 25 - David Merrick, American stage producer (b. 1911)
- April 29 - Phạm Văn Ðồng, Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1906)

May

- May 11 - Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (b. 1907)
- May 12 - Adam Petty, American race car driver (b. 1980)
- May 14 - Keizo Obuchi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
- May 17 - Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)
- May 19 - Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut

President of France

The President of the French Republic (French: Président de la République française) colloquially referred to as President of France, is France's elected Head of State and also the ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra and Grand Master of the Légion d'honneur. Four of France's five republics have had presidents as their heads of state, making the French presidency the oldest presidency in Europe. In each of the republics' constitutions the president's powers, functions and duties, and their relation with French governments differed. The current President of the Republic is Jacques Chirac.

Presidential powers

Unlike many other European presidents, the office of the French President is quite a powerful one, especially in matters of foreign policy. Although it is the prime minister and parliament that oversee much of the nation's actual lawmaking, the French President wields significant influence, both formally and resulting from constitutional convention. The president holds the nation's most senior office, and he or she outranks all other politicians. Perhaps the president's greatest power is his or her ability to choose the prime minister. However, since only the French National Assembly has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister's gouvernement, the president is forced to name a prime minister that commands the support of the majority of this assembly.
- When the majority of the Assembly has opposite political views to that of the president, this leads to political cohabitation. In that case, the president's power is diminished, since much of the de facto power relies on a supportive prime minister and National Assembly, and is not directly attributed to the post of president. Still, the constitutional convention is that the president directs foreign policy, though he must work on that matter with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- When the majority of the Assembly sides with him, the President can take a more active role and may, in effect, direct government policy. The prime minister is then often a mere "fuse" — and can be replaced if the administration becomes unpopular. Among the formal powers of the president:
- The president promulgates laws.
- The president has a very limited form of suspensive veto: when presented with a law, he or she can request another reading of it by Parliament; the president does not have this option when presented with the bill a second time.
- The president may refer a law to the Constitutional Council prior to promulgation.
- The president may refer laws to popular referendum.
- The president names certain high officials (with the assent of the cabinet).
- The president names certain members of the Constitutional Council.
- The president receives foreign ambassadors.
- The president may grant a pardon (but not an amnesty) to convicted criminals; the president can also lessen or suppress criminal sentences. This was of crucial importance when France still operated the death penalty: criminals sentenced to death would generally request that the president commute their sentence to life imprisonment. There is a tradition of so-called "presidential amnesties", which are something of a misnomer: after the election of a president, and of a National Assembly of the same party, parliament traditionally votes a law granting amnesty for some petty crimes. This practice has been increasingly criticized, particularly because it is believed to incite people to commit traffic offences in the months preceding the election. Such an amnesty law may also authorize the president to designate individuals who have committed certain categories of crimes to be offered amnesty, if certain conditions are met. Such individual measures have been criticized for the political patronage that they allow. Still, it is argued that such amnesty laws help reduce prison overpopulation. An amnesty law was passed in 2002; it is unknown whether another will be passed in 2007. The difference between an amnesty and a presidential pardon is that the former clears all subsequent effects of the sentencing, as though the crime had not been committed, while pardon simply relieves the sentenced individual from part or all of the remaining of the sentence.

Election

Since 2000, the President of France has been directly elected to a five-year term by universal suffrage. (Prior to 2000, presidential terms lasted seven years, and the first election to a shorter term was held in 2002). President Chirac was first elected in 1995 and again in 2002. His current term will thus expire in 2007. There is no term limit, so Chirac could run again. François Mitterrand is the only President to date who has served a full two terms. The method of French presidential elections is run-off voting which ensures the elected President always obtains a majority of the vote. After the president is elected, he goes through a solemn investiture ceremony.[http://www.elysee.fr/junior/faq/faq.htm#5]

Current constitutional powers

The constitutional attributions of the president are defined in Title II of the Constitution of France. Article 5 The President of the Republic shall see that the Constitution is observed. He shall ensure, by his arbitration, the proper functioning of the public authorities and the continuity of the State. He shall be the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and observance of treaties. Article 8 The President of the Republic shall appoint the Prime Minister. He shall terminate the appointment of the Prime Minister when the latter tenders the resignation of the Government. On the proposal of the Prime Minister, he shall appoint the other members of the Government and terminate their appointments. Article 9 The President of the Republic shall preside over the Council of Ministers. Article 10 The President of the Republic shall promulgate Acts of Parliament within fifteen days following the final adoption of an Act and its transmission to the Government. He may, before the expiry of this time limit, ask Parliament to reconsider the Act or sections of the Act. Reconsideration shall not be refused. While the president has to sign all acts adopted by parliament into law, he cannot refuse to do so and exercise a kind of right of veto; his only power in that matter is to ask for a single reconsideration of the law by parliament. Article 11 [the president may submit laws to the citizens in a referendum] Article 12 The President of the Republic may, after consulting the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the assemblies, declare the National Assembly dissolved. A general election shall take place not less than twenty days and not more than forty days after the dissolution. The National Assembly shall convene as of right on the second Thursday following its election. Should it so convene outside the period prescribed for the ordinary session, a session shall be called by right for a fifteen-day period. No further dissolution shall take place within a year following this election. Article 13 The President of the Republic shall sign the ordinances and decrees deliberated upon in the Council of Ministers. He shall make appointments to the civil and military posts of the State. [...] Article 14 The President of the Republic shall accredit ambassadors and envoys extraordinary to foreign powers ; foreign ambassadors and envoys extraordinary shall be accredited to him. Article 15 The President of the Republic shall be commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He shall preside over the higher national defence councils and committees. Article 16 Where the institutions of the Republic, the independence of the Nation, the integrity of its territory or the fulfilment of its international commitments are under serious and immediate threat, and where the proper functioning of the constitutional public authorities is interrupted, the President of the Republic shall take the measures required by these circumstances, after formally consulting the Prime Minister, the Presidents of the assemblies and the Constitutional Council. He shall inform the Nation of these measures in a message. The measures must stem from the desire to provide the constitutional public authorities, in the shortest possible time, with the means to carry out their duties. The Constitutional Council shall be consulted with regard to such measures. Parliament shall convene as of right. The National Assembly shall not be dissolved during the exercise of the emergency powers. Article 16, allowing the president a limited form of rule by decree for a limited period of time in exceptional circumstance, has been used only once, by Charles de Gaulle during the Algerian War, from April 23 to September 29, 1961. Article 17 The President of the Republic has the right to grant pardon. Article 18 The President of the Republic shall communicate with the two assemblies of Parliament by means of messages, which he shall cause to be read and which shall not be the occasion for any debate. Outside sessions, Parliament shall be convened especially for this purpose. Since 1875, the President is prohibited from entering the houses of Parliament. Article 19 Acts of the President of the Republic, other than those provided for under articles 8 (first paragraph), 11, 12, 16, 18, 54, 56 and 61, shall be countersigned by the Prime Minister and, where required, by the appropriate ministers.

Succession

Upon the death or resignation of the President, the President of the Senate becomes interim president. Alain Poher is the only person to have served this temporary position. In the case of the demise of the President of the Senate, the government (as in: the cabinet) assumes the President's powers. The government has to organize elections as soon as possible during the interim period.

Other information

The official residence and office of the president is the Élysée Palace in Paris. Other presidential residences include:
- the Fort de Bregançon, in southeastern France, is the current official presidential vacationing residence;
- the Hôtel de Marigny; standing next to the Élysée Palace, it houses foreign official guests;
- the Château de Rambouillet is normally open to visitors when not used for (rare) official meetings;
- the Domaine National de Marly is normally open to visitors when not used for (rare) official meetings;
- the Domaine de Souzy-la-Briche, not a historical monument, is a private residence.

History

Under the Third and Fourth Republic, which were parliamentary systems, the office of President of the Republic was a largely ceremonial and powerless one.

Presidents of France

The list below follows on from List of French monarchs.
- Second Republic
- Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, 1848-1852 (proclaimed himself Emperor in 1852, ruled until 1870 when republican rule was restored.)
- Interim President
- Louis Jules Trochu, 1870-1871
- Third Republic
- Adolphe Thiers, 1871-1873 (Thiers became president before the adoption of the Constitution of 1875 so his constitutional position was different from that of later presidents.)
- Patrice Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta, 1873-1879
- Jules Grévy, 1879-1887
- Marie François Sadi Carnot, 1887-1894
- Jean Casimir-Périer, 1894-1895
- Félix Faure, 1895-1899
- Émile Loubet, 1899-1906
- Armand Fallières, 1906-1913
- Raymond Poincaré, 1913-1920
- Paul Deschanel, February 18 1920 - September 21 1920
- Alexandre Millerand, 1920-1924
- Gaston Doumergue, 1924-1931
- Paul Doumer, 1931-1932
- Albert Lebrun, 1932-1940
- Vichy France
- Henri Philippe Pétain, 1940-1944 ("Head of State", not President)
- Free France
- Charles de Gaulle, 1940-1944 ("Head of the Free French", not President)
- Provisional Government of the Republic ("Chairman of the Provisional Government", not President)
- Charles de Gaulle, 1944-1946
- Félix Gouin (SFIO), 1946
- Georges Bidault (MRP), 1946
- Léon Blum (SFIO), 1946-1947
- Fourth Republic
- Vincent Auriol (SFIO), 1947-1954
- René Coty, 1954-1959
- Fifth Republic
- Charles de Gaulle (UNR/UDR), 1959-1969
- Georges Pompidou (UDR), 1969-1974
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (UDF), 1974-1981
- François Mitterrand (Socialist), 1981-1995
- Jacques Chirac (RPR/UMP), from 1995
- Senate President Alain Poher twice acted as President for a few months immediately following de Gaulle's resignation (1969) and Pompidou's death (1974).

External link

- [http://www.elysee.fr/ang/index.shtm Web page of the President]

Eurobasket

: This article is related to European Basketball Championships. For EuroBasket, the basketball news website; see Eurobasket.com ---- Eurobasket is the name commonly used to refer to the European basketball championships that take every two years between national teams of the continent. Every second Eurobasket is a qualifying tournament for the Basketball World Championships.

List of tournaments and winners

Performance by nation

Basketball World Championship Soviet Union - 14 Soviet Union Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - 5 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - 3 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Lithuania - 3 Lithuania Italy - 2 Italy Greece - 2 Greece Latvia - 1 Latvia Egypt - 1 Egypt Czechoslovakia - 1 Czechoslovakia Hungary - 1 Hungary Germany - 1 Total - 33

Eurobasket

List of tournaments and winners

Performance by nation

Virtus Bologna

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna is a prominent Italian basketball club, based in Bologna. Virtus returned to Italy's top division for the 2005-06 season after two years in the second division. Virtus was founded in 1879 as a gymnastics club, and fielded its first professional basketball teams in the 1920s. The club has won 15 national league titles in Italy's top division and 8 Italian Cups. It has also been a frequent participant in the Euroleague, the basketball equivalent to football's Champions League. Virtus' best season, as measured by trophies won, was 2000-01, when it won the Italian league, Italian Cup, and Euroleague titles. It also won the Euroleague in 1998. However, several key members of Virtus' treble-winners left immediately after that accomplishment. After the 2001-02 season, Manu Ginobili, the Euroleague Final Four MVP in 2001, left for the NBA. At the end of the 2002-03 season, Virtus suffered relegation from Italy's top flight as a result of financial problems. The local derby between Virtus and Fortitudo Bologna is one of the most intense in the entire world of sports. Sports Illustrated writer Alexander Wolff devoted a chapter of his 2002 basketball book, Big Game, Small World (ISBN 0446526010), to this rivalry. Virtus' home stadium is PalaMalaguti.

Team honours

- Italian Championships: 15 (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1955, 1956, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001)
- Italian Cups: 8 (1974, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002)
- Italian Supercup: 1 (1995)
- Euroleague: 2 (1998, 2001)
- Cup Winners' Cups: 1 (1990)

Famous players

- Predrag Danilovic
- Emanuel Ginóbili
- Radoslav Nesterović
- Antoine Rigaudeau
- Hugo Sconochini

List of former names

- Virtus 1945-1956
- Sinudyne 1975-1980
- Granarolo 1983-1986
- Dietor 1986-1988
- Knorr 1988-1993
- Buckler 1993-1996
- Kinder 1996-2002
- Virtus 2002-2003
- Virtus 1934 2003-2004
- Carisbo Virtus 2004
- Caffè Maxim 2004-

External link

- [http://www.virtus.it Official site (in Italian)] Category:Italian basketball teams

2000 Summer Olympics

The Games of the XXVII Olympiad or the Millennium Olympics were held in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. Sydney was elected in 1993 above Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester. The election took place in Monte Carlo on 23rd September, 1993.

Highlights

Prologue

Although the Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until September 15, the football competitions began with preliminary matches on September 13. Among the pre-ceremony fixtures, Host nation Australia went down 1-0 to Italy at the M.C.G..

Day 1 - September 15

In a long opening ceremony, Australia presented itself and its celebrities to the world, with about three billion watching the show. They saw a record 199 nations enter the stadium, the only missing IOC member being the suspended Afghanistan for the Taliban regime's prohibition to practice any kind of sports. Most remarkable was the entering of North and South Korea as one team, using a specially designed flag. The two teams would compete separately, however. Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations. Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag. The Governor-General, Sir William Deane, opened the games. The Opening Ceremony began with a tribute to the heritage of the Australian Stock Horse, with the arrival of a lone rider, Steve Jefferys, whose Australian Stock Horse "Ammo" reared. Steve Jefferys cracked his stockwhip and a further 120 riders and their Stock Horses entered the Stadium and performed intricate steps to the music of Bruce Rowland who composed a special Olympics version of the main theme which he had composed for the 1982 film "The Man From Snowy River". Julie Anthony was the soprano who sang the Australian National Anthem at the Opening Ceremony The ceremonies concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame. Former Australian women Olympic champions brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman, who lit the flame in the cauldron within a circle of fire. A hot favourite for the 400m title, Freeman is a major role model for Indigenous Australians.

Day 2 - September 16

September 16 The first medals of the Games were awarded in the women's 10 metre air rifle competition, which was won by Nancy Johnson of the United States. The Triathlon made its Olympic debut with the women's race. Set in the surroundings of the Sydney Opera House, Brigitte McMahon of Switzerland swam, cycled and ran to the first gold medal in the sport, beating the favoured home athletes. The first star of the Games was Ian Thorpe. The 17-year-old Australian first set a new world record in the 400m freestyle final before competing in an exciting 4 x 100 m freestyle final. Swimming the last leg, Thorpe passed the leading Americans and arrived in a new world record time, two tenths of a second ahead of the Americans. In the same event for women, the Americans also broke the world record, finishing ahead of the Netherlands and Sweden. IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, at his last Olympics, had to leave for home, as his wife was severely ill. Upon arrival, his wife had already died. Samaranch returned to Sydney four days later. The Olympic flag was flown at half-staff during the period as a sign of respect to Samaranch's wife.

Day 3 - September 17

Canadian Simon Whitfield sprinted away in the last 100m of the men's triathlon, becoming the inaugural winner in the event. On the cycling track, Robert Bartko beat fellow German Jens Lehmann in the individual pursuit, setting a new Olympic Record. Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel set a world record in the semi-finals the same event for women. In the swimming pool, American Tom Dolan beat the world record in the 400m medley, successfully defending the title he won in Atlanta four years prior. Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn also clocked a new world record, beating her own time in the 100m butterfly final to win by more than a second.

Day 4 - September 18

The main event for the Australians on the fourth day of the Games was the 200m freestyle. Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband had broken the world record in the semi-finals, taking it from the new Australian hero Ian Thorpe, who came close to the world record in his semi-final heat. As the final race finished, Van den Hoogenband's time was exactly the same as in the semi-finals, finishing ahead of Thorpe by only half a second. China won the gold medal in the men's team all-around gymnastics competition, after being the runner-up in the previous two Olympics. The other medals were taken by Ukraine and Russia, respectively. Zijlaard-van Moorsel lived up to the expectations set by her world record in cycling in the semis by winning the gold medal. The title completed her return to the sport after a long break because of anorexia nervosa.

Day 9 - September 23

By rowing in the winning coxed four, Steve Redgrave of Great Britain became a member of a select group who had won gold medals at five consecutive Olympics.

Day 10 - September 25

September 25 Australian Cathy Freeman won the 400 metre final in front of a jubilant Sydney crowd at the Olympic Stadium. The race was tipped to be a major attraction of Sydney Games between Freeman and France's Marie-José Perec. But Perec left Sydney before the race even began, which left many International commentators and fans disappointed. Perec vowed never to return to Sydney again. Freeman finished the Race ahead of Lorraine Graham of Jamaica and Katharine Merry of Great Britain, which delighted Australian sporting fans and commentators alike.

Day 13 - September 28

The Canadian flag at athletes' village is lowered to half-staff as Canadian athletes pay tribute to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau after hearing of his passing in Montreal. (Because of the time difference, it was September 29 in Sydney when Trudeau passed away)

Day 15 - September 30

Cameroon won a historic gold medal over Spain in the Men's Olympic Football Final at the Olympic Stadium. The game went to a penalty shootout.

Day 16 - October 1

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremony, "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever". Yvonne Kenny was the soprano who sang the "Olympic Hymn" at the Closing Ceremony. The ceremony featured performing artists such as Jimmy Barnes, Midnight Oil, Kylie Minogue, Slim Dusty, Christine Anu, John Paul Young and Melbourne-based singer Vanessa Amorosi, as well as the pop duo Savage Garden. The Games were then handed over to the city of their birthplace, Athens, where they would again take place in 2004. The ceremony concluded with a huge fireworks display on Sydney Harbour.

Sports

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Medal count

Top medal-collecting nations:
http://simon.forsyth.net/olympics2000.html

Nations

Articles about Sydney Summer Olympics by nation:

Media coverage

The games were covered by the following broadcasters:
- Seven Network (Australia)
- BBC (United Kingdom)
- NBC (United States)
- SVT (Sweden)
- CBC and TSN (Canada)
- NHK (Japan)
- ARD and ZDF (Germany)
- France Télévisions (France 2 and France 3) and Canal + (France) One of the more notable parts of the media coverage of the games was the two-hour nightly broadcast of "The Dream," a comedy talk show discussing the past day's events, presented by Australian comedic duo <