Milestones

SOLD

Muzak–the South Carolina–based company that specializes in music you’re not meant to listen to–to Canada’s Mood Music for $345 million.

PURCHASED

Chicago’s craft brewery Goose Island by beer giant Anheuser-Busch, for $38.8 million; brew lovers protested the “corporatization” of the locally owned beer.

BANNED

Smoking in Chinese hotels, restaurants and indoor public spaces, as of May 1; the country is home to an estimated one-third of the world’s smokers.

SCHEDULED

Parliamentary elections in Canada, for May 2, after a no-confidence vote brought down PM Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

LAUNCHED

The Nintendo 3DS, the company’s newest handheld gaming system, on March 27 in the U.S.; Nintendo said first-day sales of the 3-D device set a company record.

REMOVED

A mural in Maine’s Department of Labor building that depicted workers’ history; the governor said he had received complaints about the painting’s being too pro-labor.