Milestones

DISCOVERED. A possible NEW PLANET, as yet unnamed; by scientists at Caltech, Yale and the Gemini Observatory. The researchers said the ball of rock and ice is the first object larger than Pluto to be found in the outer reaches of the solar system.

WON. LANCE ARMSTRONG, 33, a record seventh consecutive Tour de France; by 4 min. 40 sec. over Ivan Basso of Italy; in his last professional competition; in Paris. Of the race that defined his career, the cycling champion, who in April announced his planned retirement, said, "Vive le Tour, forever!"

SENTENCED. AHMED RESSAM, 38, the so-called millennium bomber who plotted to attack Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the new century; to 22 years in prison; in Seattle. During the sentencing hearing, Judge John Coughenour rebuked the Bush Administration, noting that "we did not need to use a secret military tribunal, detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant or deny [him] the right to counsel."

DIED. SUSAN GORDON LYDON, 61, feminist writer and editor whose landmark 1970 essay for Ramparts magazine, "The Politics of Orgasm," turned a previously taboo subject into a public debate; of cancer; in Boca Raton, Fla. She came up with the idea after listening to women's groups and realizing that many had faked orgasm but were afraid to discuss it. The topic, said a Ramparts editor, quickly ballooned from "a giggle to a cause," and her essay became a staple of many women's studies courses.

DIED. BRUCE BOLT, 75, pioneer in engineering seismology, which uses earth science to influence structural engineering; in Oakland, Calif. By using data from sensors along fault lines, records of old quakes and analysis of underground rock formations, he explained why certain spots in active seismic areas, including some far from the epicenter, are hit harder than others. His work influenced legislation in California, and he was consulted on construction projects from Egypt to Alaska.

DIED. AL HELD, 76, abstract painter and Yale University professor known for his gigantic geometrical pieces; near Camerata, Italy. After making his mark in the 1960s and '70s with a series of orderly, stylized, mural-size black-and-white works featuring cubes and pyramids that appeared to be floating, he painted dizzying grids and spheres in eye-popping colors. Describing the theme of much of his work, he said, "We're not going to get rid of chaos and complexity ... But we can find a way to live with them."

DIED. DANNY SIMON, 86, veteran comedy writer for Phil Silvers, Milton Berle and Sid Caesar, and the inspiration for some of the famous characters written by his younger brother Neil; in Portland, Ore. Revered by younger comics--Woody Allen said he learned all he knew about comedy writing from him--Danny had an idea for a play, from his experience as a divorced man living with another, that became Neil's The Odd Couple.

DIED. RICHARD DOLL, 92, one of the first scientists to link cigarette smoking to lung cancer; in Oxford, England. The epidemiologist's 1949 findings, based on patient surveys at 20 hospitals in London, showed smoking to be the one habit consistent among the disparate population, leading to more definitive studies. Last year he published the final report in a half-century-long study of a group of British doctors, finding that continual smoking reduced life expectancy by 10 years but that stopping, even late in life, could significantly improve it.

DIED. CATHERINE WOOLLEY, 100, writer of 87 children's books including The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy and the Gus the Ghost series; in Truro, Mass. So prolific that her publisher advised her to take an occasional pseudonym, she often used her grandmother's name, Jane Thayer.

With reporting by Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, ELIZABETH L. BLAND, Leslie-Bernard Joseph, Jeninne Lee-St. John, Golnoush Niknejad, Elspeth Reeve