2013 Event The famous final New Year's Eve countdown in Times Square will be lead by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; she will have the honor of pushing he ceremonial countdown button to start the descent of the Times Square New Year's Eve ball 1995 Death Fabio Casartelli, raced with Ariostea team in 1993, won Olympic gold medal in 1992 Summer Olympics road race, died during 15th stage of the 1995 Tour de France, in a crash occurring on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet in the Pyrenees 1966 Death Nicholas Piantanida, sets balloon flight record and dies in descent 1959 Birthday Maya Lin, born in Athens, Ohio, artist, architect of Chinese descent, known for Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., sculpture, landscape art 1959 Birthday Ben Okri, born in London, of Nigerian descent, poet, author, won Booker Prize 1991, for book 'The Famished Road', described as a magic realist 1951 Birthday David Yip, born in Liverpool, England, of Chinese descent, English actor, played Johnny Ho in The Chinese Detective, played CIA liason agent Chuck Lee in 'A View to a Kill', a 1985 James Bond film 1948 Birthday Lin Onus, born in Melbourne, Australia, born William McLintock Onus, of Jiradjuri descent, artist, painter, sculptor, print maker, used Maningride rarrk cross-hatching-based painting style 1942 Birthday Isabel Allende, born in Lima, Peru, writer, novelist, of Spanish and Portuguese descent, wrote 'The House of Spirits', 'City of the Beasts' 1942 Event Congress advises Franklin D. Roosevelt that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the U.S. war effort 1936 Birthday Sylvain Saudan, skiier, 60 degrees descent 1928 Birthday Patrick McGoohan, born in New York, American actor of Irish descent, appeared in films, theater, television 1902 Birthday Dilys Powell, English writer, Descent from Parnassus
