Milestones

By Melissa August; Elizabeth L. Bland; Sean Gregory; Janice M. Horowitz; Rebecca Winters

UPHELD. Extension Of Copyright Law, by the U.S. Supreme Court; in Washington. The 1998 law, sponsored by Congressman Sonny Bono, extended copyright protection for 20 years, preventing thousands of well-known works, including early Mickey Mouse cartoons and the Gershwin classic Rhapsody in Blue, from passing into the public domain.

RULED ELIGIBLE FOR TRIAL as an adult: JOHN LEE MALVO, 17, accused in the Washington-area sniper shootings; in a juvenile court in Fairfax, Va. The judge noted strong evidence that places Malvo at the scene of the shootings. The ruling qualifies Malvo for the death penalty.

DIED. MAURICE PIALAT, 77, acclaimed French film director; of kidney failure; in Paris. In dramas such as Police, Loulou and The Mouth Agape, the auteur painted uncompromising, unforgettable portraits of desolation. His characters--cops, priests, kids on the run, deathbed parents--were sacred monsters in strangled agony.

DIED. RICHARD CRENNA, 76, versatile character actor; of pancreatic cancer; in Los Angeles. Known to '50s TV viewers as squeaky-voiced student Walter Denton in Our Miss Brooks, he created solid characters in such films as Wait Until Dark, Rambo, The Flamingo Kid and Body Heat.

DIED. PAUL MONASH, 85, film producer of such classics as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Slaughterhouse-Five; after a brief illness; in Los Angeles. He wrote, directed and produced the hit 1960s television series Peyton Place and wrote the TV movies All Quiet on the Western Front and Salem's Lot.

DIED. GEORGE WATERS, 87, executive who turned the American Express card into the company's flagship product; of heart problems; in Fair Haven, N.J. Until 1961, when Waters was hired, credit cards were used mostly by restaurants, Visa and MasterCard did not exist, and the American Express card lagged behind one offered by the Diners Club. One of his first moves was to persuade American Airlines to accept the American Express card; other airlines and businesses followed quickly, and the card soon became a global brand.

DIED. RICHARD SIMMONS, 89, whose 40-year acting career included the title role in the 1950s television show Sergeant Preston of the Yukon; in Oceanside, Calif. The show, by the same team behind The Lone Ranger, featured Sergeant Preston as a Canadian Mountie who solved crimes with his horse Rex and his dog Yukon King.

DIED. RILEY HOUSEWRIGHT, 89, microbiologist who helped direct federal research in biological warfare; in Frederick, Md. As scientific director of the U.S. Army Biological Laboratories at Fort Detrick, Md., for 14 years, Housewright oversaw the development of anthrax spores, botulinum toxin and viruses such as encephalitis and yellow fever, with the intent of using them against U.S. enemies. The lab closed in 1970 when President Richard Nixon banned offensive biological weapons.

DIED. LINDA BRAIDWOOD, 93, AND ROBERT BRAIDWOOD, 95, husband-and-wife archaeologists who died within hours of each other in the same hospital; both of pneumonia; in Chicago. The couple, who were married for 66 years and worked side by side at the University of Chicago, found in 1964 what was thought to be the earliest known building, in southwestern Turkey. Robert was said by some to have been a model for the famous screen archaeologist Indiana Jones.