Milestones

DIED

Henry Worsley, 55, explorer, with just 30 miles (48 km) remaining in his attempt to become the first man to finish an unaided solo trek across Antarctica. He called for help before the finish line and died on Jan. 24 of peritonitis. Through the 913 miles (1,470 km) he did complete over 71 days, the former British army officer exceeded his goal of raising more than $140,000 for wounded soldiers.

Cu Rua, or “Great-Grandfather Turtle,” a 360-lb. (163 kg) Yangtze softshell turtle of unknown age that lived in Hoan Kiem Lake in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Legend holds it helped drive out Chinese forces in the 15th century.

BANNED

By President Obama, solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prison, or as a punishment for low-level infractions committed by inmates. “It doesn’t make us safer,” he said. “It’s an affront to our common humanity.”

DROPPED

By Amherst College, the unofficial “Lord Jeffs” mascot, after students protested its ties to the colonial leader Lord Jeffery Amherst, who advocated giving smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans.

AWARDED

The 2016 PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award, to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has set up charities that support multiple-sclerosis research and institutionalized children. Previous winners include Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood.