Milestones

2 minute read

DIED

Three-time Olympic bobsledding star Steven Holcomb, at 37. In 2010, Holcomb drove his four-man team to a win at the Winter Olympics, ending the U.S.’s 62-year gold-medal drought for that event.

• Anne Morrissy Merick, trailblazing journalist who fought for the rights of female reporters to cover the Vietnam War from the front line, at 83. As a college student, Morrissy Merick was the first female reporter allowed in the Yale Bowl press box.

• Richard Basciano, New York City’s “prince of porn,” who owned several peep shows and adult theaters in Times Square, at 91. He made millions of dollars selling real estate when the area was redeveloped in the 1990s.

ANNOUNCED

The retirement of Britain’s Prince Philip from public duties this fall, after seven decades of official meetings and visits. Buckingham Palace said the 95-year-old had the full support of his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, who will continue to carry out her royal engagements as usual.

ACQUIRED

Kate Spade, quirky handbag and accessories brand popular with millennials, by affordable-luxury retailer Coach, in a $2.4 billion deal after months of speculation on Wall Street.

KILLED

Pepe the Frog, by his creator, in a bid to stop alt-right groups from using the cartoon as a racist and anti-Semitic meme. Artist Matt Furie published a comic strip featuring the character, branded a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League, being given an open-casket funeral.

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