by tyler | Mar 20, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of Grammy Award-winning singer and actress, Mariah Carey.
Birth date: March 27, 1970
Birth place: Long Island, New York
Birth name: Mariah Carey
Father: Alfred Roy Carey, aeronautics engineer
Mother: Patricia (Hickey) Carey, opera singer and voice coach
Marriages: Nick Cannon (2008-2016, divorced); Tommy Mottola (1993-1998, divorced)
Children: with Nick Cannon: Moroccan and Monroe (twins)
Has a five-octave vocal range.
Supported herself as a waitress and back-up singer before being signed to Columbia Records.
Has won five Grammys and has been nominated for 34.
Is the first artist ever to top the Billboard charts in four different decades.
1988 – Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola listens to Carey’s demo tape and signs her to the label.
1990 – Her debut album, “Mariah Carey,” is released. It goes on to sell more than six million copies and spawn four number one singles.
1991 – Carey wins two Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, for “Vision of Love” and Best New Artist.
1994 – Joins the board of directors of the Fresh Air Fund. She is a supporter of the fund’s Career Awareness Program, which is named Camp Mariah, in honor of her.
Summer 2001 – She suffers an “emotional and physical breakdown” and is hospitalized.
September 2001 – Carey stars in a semi-autobiographical movie, “Glitter,” and releases an album of the same name. Both the album and movie are unsuccessful critically and commercially.
2002 – Virgin pays Carey a reported $28 million to end her contract. She later signs a $20 million deal with the Island Def Jam Music Group.
2006 – Wins three Grammy Awards: Best Contemporary R&B Album, with Brian Garten and Dana John Chappelle for “The Emancipation of Mimi,” Best R&B Song, with Jermaine Dupri, Johntá Austin, and Manuel Seal Jr., for “We Belong Together,” and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “We Belong Together.”
2009 – Portrays a social worker in the film “Precious,” directed by Lee Daniels.
March 2011 – Following reports that she accepted payment in 2009 to perform for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Carey releases a statement that she was “naïve and unaware of who I was booked to perform for. I feel horrible and embarrassed to have participated in this mess.”
2013 – Appears as a judge for the 12th season of “American Idol.”
August 5, 2015 – Carey is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
December 4, 2016 – The eight-episode E! docuseries “Mariah’s World” premieres.
December 31, 2016 – Experiences an audio track malfunction while lip-syncing in front of a live audience on ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”
April 2018 – Carey reveals she has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In an interview in People magazine, she says she is now in therapy and is taking medication for bipolar II disorder, which involves periods of depression as well as hypomania.
January 16, 2019 – Carey’s former assistant, Lianna Shakhnazaryan, files a civil lawsuit claiming she was harassed and tormented by Carey’s manager, Stella Bulochnikov. In the complaint, Shakhnazaryan alleges that she was physically abused and urinated on by Bulochnikov, and that Carey was sometimes present for the abuse and allowed it to continue. Carey files her own lawsuit against Shakhnazaryan, claiming breach of contract, invasion of privacy and extortion. The case is settled in July 2021 for an undisclosed amount.
December 16, 2019 – Carey’s 25-year-old holiday song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.
September 29, 2020 – Carey’s memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” is published.
March 3, 2021 – Carey’s brother, Morgan Carey, files a lawsuit against her for defamation, alleging that his depiction in “The Meaning of Mariah Carey” caused him “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” The lawsuit follows a separate suit filed by Carey’s sister, Alison Carey, a month earlier for emotional distress caused by the memoir.
June 3, 2022 – In a complaint filed in New Orleans federal court, Andy Stone sues Carey over her 1994 Christmas classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Stone says he co-wrote a song with the same title five years earlier. The complaint states that Stone’s lawyers first contacted the defendants in April 2021 about their alleged unauthorized use, but were “unable to come to any agreement.” On November 1, Stone files to dismiss the case.
June 16, 2022 – Is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
November 1, 2023 – Andy Stone re-files his complaint in Los Angeles federal court over “All I want for Christmas Is You.” Stone is alleging copyright infringement and unjust enrichment and is asking for at least $20 million in damages.
by tyler | Mar 20, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at the life of actor, director, producer and writer Warren Beatty.
Birth date: March 30, 1937
Birth place: Richmond, Virginia
Birth name: Henry Warren Beaty
Father: Ira O. Beaty, school administrator
Mother: Kathlyn (MacLean) Beaty, drama teacher
Marriage: Annette Bening (March 1992-present)
Children: Stephen, Benjamin, Isabel and Ella
Education: Attended Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1956; Attended the Stella Adler Theatre School, New York, New York, 1957
He is the younger brother of actress Shirley MacLaine.
Beatty turned down several football scholarships to study drama at Northwestern University instead.
Beatty dated many famous women, such as Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway, Julie Christie and Madonna, before he was married at age 54 to actress Annette Bening.
Nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won once. He has also received an honorary award.
Beatty is one of a small group to have been nominated for an Oscar as writer, director, producer and actor on an individual film. Beatty did it twice, for “Heaven Can Wait” and “Reds.” Orson Welles was the first, for “Citizen Kane.”
Honorary chair of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, originally founded by the much-admired acting teacher. Other prominent alumni include Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Martin Sheen, and Bryce Dallas Howard.
In November 2015, singer-songwriter Carly Simon admitted to People magazine the second verse of her 1972 song, “You’re So Vain,” is about Beatty, a former beau, confirming a decades-old rumor.
1957 – Makes his television debut, in the lead role of a hitchhiker, on NBC’s “The Curly Headed Kid.”
1959-1963 – Appears in five episodes of the TV series “the Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.” Changes his last name to “Beatty.”
November 28, 1959 – Debuts on Broadway in “A Loss of Roses.”
1961 – Beatty makes his film-acting debut as Bud Stamper in “Splendor in the Grass” opposite Natalie Wood.
1967 – Makes his producing debut (and also stars) in the film “Bonnie and Clyde.” Initially panned, the film later receives critical recognition and is now considered a movie classic.
1975 – Makes his writing debut with “Shampoo,” co-written with Robert Towne, in which he also stars and produces.
1978 – Makes his directing debut with “Heaven Can Wait,” in which he is also the star, producer and writer.
1981 – For the second time, he serves as actor, director, producer and writer, for “Reds.”
March 29, 1982 – Winner, Academy Award for Best Director, for “Reds.” This is his only Academy Award win.
1987 – Produces and stars, with Dustin Hoffman, in the famous flop, “Ishtar,” about two lounge singers traipsing around North Africa.
1990 – Produces, directs and stars in the film, “Dick Tracy,” based on the hero police detective of the comic strip.
1991 – Meets his future wife, Annette Bening, when they star in the film “Bugsy,” a biopic about mobster Bugsy Siegel.
1998 – Produces, writes, directs and stars in the political satire, “Bulworth.”
August 12, 1999 – The New York Times reports Beatty, a Democrat, is considering a run for the White House in the 2000 election.
March 26, 2000 – Receives the Academy’s highest honor, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial award, which is presented to “creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”
December 5, 2004 – Receives the Kennedy Center Honors.
March 25, 2011 – Wins a long-running legal fight in federal court against Tribune Media Services over rights to the Dick Tracy character.
February 26, 2017 – Beatty and Faye Dunaway – on hand to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Bonnie and Clyde” – announce the wrong winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture after being handed the wrong envelope by one of the two partners from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). “Moonlight” finally accepts the award for best picture after “La La Land” is mistakenly announced.
November 7, 2022 – Beatty is sued by Kristina Charlotte Hirsch for sexual assault and sexual battery. Hirsch accuses Beatty of coercing her into sex in 1973 when Hirsch was a minor. Beatty is not named directly in the lawsuit. In December 2023 the lawsuit is dismissed with prejudice.
by tyler | Mar 19, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
Birth date: April 1, 1950
Birth place: Trenton, New Jersey
Birth name: Samuel Anthony Alito Jr.
Father: Samuel Alito, a teacher
Mother: Rose (Fradusco) Alito, a teacher
Marriage: Martha-Ann (Bomgardner) Alito (1985-present)
Children: Philip and Laura
Education: Princeton University, A.B., 1972; Yale University, J.D., 1975
Nicknamed “Scalito” as his views resemble those of the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court, the first in 1982.
1976-1977 – Law clerk to Leonard I. Garth, judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
1977-1981 – Assistant US attorney for the District of New Jersey.
1981-1985 – Assistant to the US solicitor general.
1985-1987 – Deputy assistant to the US attorney general.
1987-1990 – Named by President Ronald Reagan as the US attorney for the District of New Jersey.
February 20, 1990 – Nominated by President George H.W. Bush to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
April 27, 1990 – Confirmed unanimously by the Senate on a voice vote.
April 30, 1990-2006 – Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Newark, New Jersey.
1991 – Is the only dissenting voice in a Third Circuit ruling striking down a Pennsylvania law that required women to notify their husbands if they planned to get an abortion.
1993 – Agrees with the majority that an Iranian woman seeking asylum could establish eligibility by showing that she has an abhorrence with her country’s “gender specific laws and repressive social norms,” or because of a belief in feminism or membership in a feminist group.
1999 – Writes the opinion in a case that says a Christmas display on city property does not violate separation of church and state doctrines because it included a large plastic Santa Claus as well as a Menorah and a banner hailing diversity.
2001 – Agrees with the majority that strikes down a public school district’s anti-harassment policy, saying the policy – which included non-vulgar, non-school-sponsored speech – violated the First Amendment.
October 31, 2005 – President George W. Bush nominates Alito to be Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s replacement on the Supreme Court.
January 31, 2006 – Alito is confirmed as an associate justice to the Supreme Court. The US Senate votes 58-42. He is immediately sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts.
February 1, 2006 – Sworn in as a Supreme Court justice a second time in a ceremony at the White House.
May 29, 2007 – In a 5-4 ruling, the court dismisses a pay discrimination lawsuit, with Alito writing for the majority. The original suit was filed by a female worker, Lilly Ledbetter against her employer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. She claimed that she was underpaid due to gender discrimination. In the opinion, Alito writes that Ledbetter filed the claim after the federally-mandated 180-day time window, concluding that the “filing deadline protects employers from the burden of defending claims arising from employment decisions long past.”
January 28, 2010 – During a State of the Union address by President Barack Obama, Alito is seen mouthing the words “not true” in response to the president’s criticism of the court’s 5-4 ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which removed long-established legal limits on campaign spending by corporations and unions.
March 2, 2011 – Alito is the sole dissenter in the free speech case involving Westboro Baptist Church. In an 8-1 decision, the court rules that the First Amendment allows the church to carry out anti-gay protests, even at military funerals. Westboro had been sued by the family of a fallen Marine whose funeral was disrupted by church protesters. In his dissent, Alito writes, “Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.”
June 25, 2013 – Writes the majority opinion in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl where the question is, can an unwed non-custodial parent block an adoption using the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act. The court ruled, 5-4, in favor of the adoptive parents ruling that the ICWA did not apply when the parent had never had physical or legal custody of the child.
June 30, 2014 – Writes the majority opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, with the court ruling 5-4 that family-owned corporations can be exempt from a federal mandate requiring the inclusion of contraception coverage in employee health plans based on religious objections.
June 27, 2018 – The court issues a 5-4 ruling striking down an Illinois law requiring non-union public sector workers to pay fees for collective bargaining. The opinion, written by Alito, reads, “It is hard to estimate how many billions of dollars have been taken from nonmembers and transferred to public sector unions in violation of the First Amendment. Those unconstitutional exactions cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.”
February 1, 2019 – Alito temporarily blocks a Louisiana abortion law from going into effect, filing an order that says the justices need more time to review the filings in the case against a measure restricting access to clinics.
November 25, 2019 – Writes the sole dissent in the court’s denial of National Review’s defamation suit petition. Climate scientist Michael Mann sued the conservative magazine in 2012 after two columnists wrote about his work and the “Hockey Stick” curve graph illustrating the rise in average global temperatures, accusing him of “misconduct” and data “manipulation.” Alito writes that the case brings up First Amendment concerns “that go to the very heart of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and freedom of the press: the protection afforded to journalists and others who use harsh language in criticizing opposing advocacy on one of the most important public issues of the day. If the Court is serious about protecting freedom of expression, we should grant review.”
June 24, 2022 – The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, holding that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion. In his majority opinion, Alito says “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.”
November 28, 2022 – In a letter, the Supreme Court legal counsel says there is no evidence that Alito violated ethics standards, in response to questions from congressional Democrats about allegations that Alito revealed the outcome of a 2014 decision before it was released.
July 28, 2023 – Alito agrees to temporarily freeze a lower court order that bars the US government from regulating so-called ghost guns – untraceable homemade weapons – as firearms under federal law.
October 6, 2023 – Alito freezes a lower court ruling that blocked the Biden administration from regulating so-called ghost guns.
by tyler | Mar 19, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at the life of former US Secretary of State and ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson.
Birth date: March 23, 1952
Birth place: Wichita Falls, Texas
Birth name: Rex Wayne Tillerson
Father: Bob Tillerson, Boy Scouts of America executive
Mother: Patty (Patton) Tillerson
Marriage: Renda (St. Clair) Tillerson
Children: Four children
Education: University of Texas at Austin, B.S., 1975
Tillerson and his wife, Renda, operate a Texas horse ranch called Bar RR Ranches.
An Eagle Scout, Tillerson served as president of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 2010 and 2011. As a member of the BSA executive board, he helped advocate for the inclusion of gay youth in the Scouts. The organization reversed its ban on gay Scouts in 2013 and four years later, the BSA opened up membership to transgender youth. While Tillerson has a reputation as a BSA reformer, he has been criticized by gay rights groups because, under his leadership, Exxon continued to resist calls to implement policies protecting LGBTQ employees from harassment. In 2015, the company added sexual orientation and gender identity to its equal opportunity policy.
1975 – Joins Exxon as a production engineer.
1987-1989 – Business development manager of Exxon’s domestic natural gas department.
1989-1992 – General manager for regional oil and gas production.
1992 – Production adviser for Exxon Corporation.
1992-1995 – Coordinator of affiliate gas sales for Exxon Company, International.
1995 – Becomes president of Exxon Yemen and other overseas subsidiaries.
1998 – President of Exxon Ventures and Exxon Neftegas in Russia.
1999 – Becomes the executive vice president of Exxon Development Company.
1999 – Exxon Corp and Mobil Corp complete their merger.
2001-2003 – Senior vice president of ExxonMobil.
2004 – Becomes president of ExxonMobil and a member of the company’s board of directors.
2006 – Is named chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil.
2013 – Receives the Order of Friendship award from Russian President Vladimir Putin. During Tillerson’s tenure as ExxonMobil CEO, the company invests in oil production in Siberia, the Arctic Circle and the Black Sea.
December 13, 2016 – President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team announces that Tillerson has been nominated for secretary of state. Tillerson was recommended for the role by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Their consulting firm, RiceHadleyGates LLC has a contract with ExxonMobil.
December 14, 2016 – Tillerson announces that he will retire from ExxonMobil at the end of December.
January 11, 2017 – During his confirmation hearing, Tillerson is questioned about his ties to Russia and asked about what he will do to promote human rights abroad. In response to a query on global warming, Tillerson says he believes climate change is a serious issue.
February 1, 2017 – Tillerson is confirmed by the Senate by a 56-43 vote. All of the Republicans voted for him while most of the Democrats voted against him. Later in the evening, Tillerson is sworn in as secretary of state.
February 15, 2017 – Tillerson arrives in Germany on his first overseas trip. He represents the United States at the G20 summit in Bonn.
February 22-23, 2017 – Tillerson visits Mexico with Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. They make the trip to meet with Mexican diplomats amid tensions over border issues and new immigration policies. Enrique Peña Nieto, the president of Mexico, canceled a planned January trip to Washington to meet President Trump due to a dispute about a proposed border wall and Trump’s campaign pledge that Mexico would pay for the structure.
February 24, 2017 – The State Department announces that it will resume holding regular press briefings on March 6. Under previous administrations, the department took questions from reporters on a daily basis but the briefings were suspended after Trump took office on January 20.
March 14-19, 2017 – Tillerson makes his first trip to Asia, stopping in China, Japan and South Korea. During the visit, Tillerson declares that a new approach is needed to counter provocations by North Korea.
March 20, 2017 – Officials tell Reuters that Tillerson will not attend a NATO meeting in April, skipping the event so he can participate in talks with Trump and President Xi Jinping of China at Trump’s Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. Officials also say the secretary of state is planning a trip to Russia later in April.
October 2017 – NBC reports that Tillerson called Trump a “moron” during a Pentagon meeting. Tillerson refuses to confirm or deny the allegation.
March 13, 2018 – Is fired by Trump.
December 7, 2018 – Tillerson calls Trump “undisciplined” during an interview with former CBS News’ Bob Schieffer. “When the President would say, ‘Here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it.’ And I’d have to say to him, ‘Well Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law. It violates treaty,’” Tillerson says.
May 21, 2019 – Tillerson meets with Democratic chair Rep. Eliot Engel and ranking Republican Rep. Michael McCaul from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and their senior staff for an interview that focuses primarily on his time in the Trump administration.
January 11, 2021 – In a lengthy interview published in Foreign Policy, Tillerson paints a scathing picture of Trump as someone who made uninformed decisions that were not based in reality. “His understanding of global events, his understanding of global history, his understanding of US history was really limited. It’s really hard to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t even understand the concept for why we’re talking about this,” Tillerson said in the interview conducted just prior to the US Capitol insurrection.
by tyler | Mar 19, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at the life of Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft.
Birth date: March 24, 1956
Birth place: Detroit, Michigan
Birth name: Steven Anthony Ballmer
Father: Fred Ballmer, manager for Ford Motor Co.
Mother: Bea (Dworkin) Ballmer
Marriage: Connie Snyder (1990-present)
Children: three sons
Education: Harvard University, B.A., 1977, double major in Mathematics and Economics; Attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business, 1979-1980
Became friends with Bill Gates while at Harvard University.
Worked for Procter & Gamble as assistant product manager before Microsoft.
Met his wife, Connie Snyder, while both were working at Microsoft.
1980 – Begins his Microsoft career as a business manager and is the company’s 24th employee.
July 1998-February 2001 – President of Microsoft.
January 13, 2000 – Is named chief executive officer when Gates steps down to concentrate on philanthropy.
February 4, 2014 – Steps down as Microsoft CEO.
May 29, 2014 – Ballmer signs a binding agreement to buy the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion from the Sterling family trust.
August 12, 2014 – Ballmer becomes the official owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, according to Ballmer’s attorney, Adam Streisand. The negotiated $2 billion sale price is a record at the time for an NBA team.
August 19, 2014 – Steps down from the Microsoft board of directors in order to concentrate on the Clippers.
October 16, 2015 – Announces he has bought a 4% stake in Twitter during the past few months, becoming one of its largest shareholders.
2015 – The Ballmers found the Ballmer Group, a philanthropic organization focusing on civic activism and economic mobility.
June 4, 2016 – Along with Brandt Vaughan, founds USAFacts Institute. Ballmer later describes the work of the institute as creating a “10-K for the government,” according to a Bloomberg interview.
March 1, 2022 – The University of Oregon launches The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health. The institute is founded through a $425 million donation from the Ballmers.
October 19, 2022 – The Ballmers announce they will invest $400 million with organizations focused on Black-owned businesses. The organizations are Fairview Capital, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, GCM Grosvenor and Ariel Alternatives’ Project Black.
March 7, 2024 – Announces the formation of an umbrella brand called Halo Sports and Entertainment that includes the LA Clippers, their G-League affiliate team, Intuit Dome and KIA Forum.
by tyler | Mar 19, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at the life of convicted Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.
Birth date: April 1, 1955
Birth place: Lapeer County, Michigan
Birth name: Terry Lynn Nichols
Father: Robert Nichols, farmer
Mother: Joyce Nichols
Marriages: Marife (Torres) Nichols (1990-2003, divorced); Lana (Osentoski) Nichols (1981-1989, divorced)
Children: with Marife Nichols: Christian and Nicole; with Lana Nichols: Joshua
Education: Attended Central Michigan University
Military service: US Army, 1988-1989
The FBI accused Nichols of helping build the bomb and arrange a getaway car for Timothy McVeigh after the bombing.
Nichols’ defense attorneys painted Nichols as a family man who had little to do with the bombing.
Nichols was not in Oklahoma City on the day of the bombing but was at home in Kansas. Prosecutors said Nichols helped McVeigh make the bomb the day before.
Nichols and McVeigh shared a fondness for guns, interest in survivalist training and a distrust of the US government.
Nichols learned how to mix fuel and fertilizer to make bombs while growing up on a farm. His father, a farmer, used such bombs to blow up tree stumps.
Nichols’ wife Marife complained at Nichols’ trial of being jealous of her husband’s close relationship with McVeigh.
May 24, 1988 – Enlists in the Army at the age of 33.
1988 – Meets McVeigh while in basic training at Fort Benning.
May 1989 – Is given a hardship discharge so he can go home to take care of his son Joshua.
Fall 1993 – McVeigh lives with the Nichols brothers, Terry and James, in their farmhouse.
March 1994 – Takes a job as a farmhand in Kansas.
Fall 1994 – Quits his job as a farmhand to go into business with McVeigh, selling guns and military surplus.
October 1994 – Along with McVeigh, steals blasting caps and other explosives materials from a quarry in Kansas.
November 5, 1994 – Reportedly robs Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore to finance the purchase of bomb materials.
November 1994-January 1995 – Makes a trip to the Philippines where his wife Marife and daughter Nicole are living. Before leaving on the trip, Nichols gives his ex-wife Lana letters and instructions for McVeigh, which are to be read if he doesn’t return from the Philippines.
April 19, 1995 – A bomb explodes at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
April 21, 1995 – Nichols surrenders to Kansas police when he hears they are looking for him.
December 23, 1997 – Is found guilty on federal charges of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and on eight counts of involuntary manslaughter.
June 4, 1998 – Federal Judge Richard Matsch sentences Nichols to life in prison without parole after the federal jury is unable to decide on the death penalty or a life sentence.
September 13, 1999 – A federal judge rejects Nichols’ request for a new federal trial.
September 5, 2001 – The Oklahoma County District Attorney announces that Nichols will face a state trial for his role in the bombing. District Attorney C. Wesley Lane says he is going forward with the trial because he is concerned the federal conviction will be overturned.
March 22, 2004 – Nichols’ state trial opens.
April 20, 2004 – Michael Fortier testifies that McVeigh asked him to help build the bomb because “Terry was backing out.” Fortier was sentenced to 12 years in prison as part of a plea deal for testifying against McVeigh and Nichols.
May 26, 2004 – Nichols is found guilty in Oklahoma state court on 161 counts of murder. The jury spent five hours deliberating before announcing the verdict.
June 11, 2004 – The jury in Nichols’ state trial says it is deadlocked over a sentence of life in prison or death by lethal injection.
August 9, 2004 – District Judge Steven Taylor sentences Nichols to 161 consecutive life terms, without the possibility of parole.
April 1, 2005 – The FBI finds residual bomb making material in Nichols’ former residence, not detected in previous searches.
May 4, 2005 – In a letter written from his Colorado prison cell, Nichols names Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore as the man who supplied him and McVeigh with bomb components. Moore denies any involvement.
March 16, 2009 – Files a 39-page handwritten lawsuit against the Colorado prison where he is staying for violating his religious and dietary needs. In the lawsuit Nichols requests 100% whole-grain foods, fresh raw vegetables and fruit, a wheat bran supplement and digestive bacteria and enzymes.
February 2010 – Goes on a fast, protesting the processed foods he is being served in prison.
August 12, 2010 – US District Judge Christine M. Arguello dismisses Nichols’ lawsuit over prison food.
November 28, 2011 – Jannie Coverdale, grandmother of two victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, reveals she has been corresponding with Nichols for several years and that he apologized and asked for her forgiveness, which he received. In copies of the letters published in The Oklahoman, Nichols admits he knew there was to be a bombing but didn’t know the federal building was the target and that the building would be occupied.
July 13, 2015 – Nichols files a motion asking the court to force the FBI to turn over approximately 10 firearms, belonging to him, that were seized after the bombings. Nichols suggests in the motion that the FBI turn the guns over to his family so the firearms can be sold to help provide financial support for his children.
April 15, 2016 – Judge Matsch orders the government to destroy the firearms belonging to Nichols, and that the fair market value of $6,922 be applied to his court ordered restitution of $14.5 million.
March 9, 2017 – Evidence from Nichols’ state trial is transferred to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
