NOVEMBER 27, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 21

Milestones
By BERNADETTE CUASAY and SHEELA SARVANANDA

DIED. ROBERT TROUT, 91, legendary American radio and television broadcaster; in New York City. Known for his crisp baritone and agile ad-lib, Trout is credited with creating the role of the anchorman. In a career spanning seven decades, he covered events ranging from John Philip Sousa's last public performance to Alan Shephard's space flight. Although he retired from full-time reporting in 1996, Trout continued to work as a commentator for National Public Radio.

CHARGED. EBRAHIM NABAVI, jailed Iranian journalist and satirist, with creating anti-government propaganda and insulting top officials; in Tehran. His trial marks the latest step in a crackdown against pro-reform publications, launched by the judiciary in an apparent response to the defeat of hard-line candidates during legislative elections in February.

ARRESTED. HAROLD BROWN, 48, former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales, in connection with the theft of a wedding gift days after her death three years ago; in London. The jewel-encrusted model dhow -- valued at $1.4 million -- was presented to Diana and Prince Charles at their 1981 wedding by the Emir of Bahrain. It is one of several valuables that went missing after Diana's death in a Paris car accident.

DIED. LEAH RABIN, 72, widow of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, voice of justice and symbol of her husband's legacy; in Jerusalem. Laid to rest by her husband's side at Mount Herzl cemetery, she is likely to be remembered as an unrelenting force for peace in the Middle East.

DIED. EDOARDO AGNELLI, 46, heir to Italy's Fiat empire; near Turin. Agnelli's body was found on the banks of the Sura River; investigators believe he committed suicide. Unmarried and leading a sheltered life, he was more interested in mysticism than in taking over the family business. Fiat factories around the world paid their respects with a minute of silence.

DIED. JACQUES CHABAN-DELMAS, 85, leading general in France's World War II resistance and postwar political figure for more than four decades; in Paris. Known simply as "Chaban," the ex-military man became one of France's most prominent Gaullist politicians, holding several cabinet posts and serving as Prime Minister from 1969-72.

CHARGED. ERIC ROBERT RUDOLPH, 34, fugitive and serial-bombing suspect; in Atlanta and Birmingham. Rudolph is alleged to have been responsible for a spate of blasts, including the 1996 Olympic bombing that killed one person and injured more than 100. A fixture on the fbi's 10 Most Wanted list, Rudolph went into hiding days after the 1998 bombing of a women's clinic in Alabama that killed a police officer and maimed a nurse. He was last seen that same year, when he resurfaced at the home of a store owner to stock up on food.

FREED. RAJKUMAR, 72, beloved Indian film star who was kidnapped in July by bandit Koose Muniswamy Veerapan, the country's most-wanted criminal; in Tamil Nadu state. The screen hero endured 108 days in captivity in a southern Indian jungle. His kidnapping had sparked strikes and rioting by outraged fans in Karnataka state and its capital, Bangalore.

TIME CAPSULE

The U.S. had another tight presidential election, in 1960. While RICHARD NIXON ultimately declined to dispute his loss to John F. Kennedy, Nixon came away with a bitterness he never quite got over, even after he won the White House in 1968.

"The news from California made Republican hearts skip a beat. One week after election day, Vice President Nixon moved into a ... 20,706-vote lead in his home state on the strength of the trickling count of absentee ballots ... Since Kennedy's margins in such heavy-electoral-vote states as Illinois (27) and New Jersey (16) were less than 1%, Republicans were tantalized by the thought that a series of hard-nosed recounts could give Nixon the magic 269 after all... G.O.P. investigators moved into marginal states for a "close hard look at the situation." Illinois Republicans, scanning a shaky 10,157 Kennedy lead -- mostly in machine-run Democratic Cook County -- had already ordered a recount of more than 5,000 precincts."
--TIME, Nov. 28, 1960