David McTaggart, Canadian badminton player and environmentalist (b. 1932)
David Fraser McTaggart (June 24, 1932 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian-born environmentalist who played a central part in the foundation of Greenpeace International.
An excellent all-around athlete, as a young man he won three consecutive Canadian National Badminton Championships in men's singles (1956–1958) and represented that country in badminton's Thomas Cup (men's world team championship) competition. Prior to his involvement in Greenpeace he had prospered as a builder and developer.
In 1972, responding to an ad in the newspapers, he used his personal boat to protest the testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific by the French government. After getting his boat damaged and being physically hurt by the French Military, his protest succeeded in 1974 when the French announced the end of their atmospheric nuclear testing program. McTaggart spent the next several years pursuing legal action against the French government and assisting in the formation of Greenpeace affiliates across Western Europe. In 1979 he brokered an agreement that led to the formation of Greenpeace International, ending the leadership of the original founding group based in Vancouver, Canada.
He became chairman and chief spokesman for Greenpeace in 1979, retiring in 1991 to live on an olive farm in Paciano, Umbria, Italy.McTaggart continued to participate in Greenpeace forums after retirement for the rest of his life. He and singer Bryan Adams did a massive postcard campaign to help create the Southern Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. For nearly two years they toured the world asking thousands of concert goers to write to countries involved with whaling to support the sanctuary.
The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was established by the IWC in 1994 with 23 countries supporting the agreement and Japan opposing it.
Te Vaka dedicated its song "Sei Ma Le Losa" to McTaggart, who was killed in a car accident on March 23, 2001, near his home in Italy.
In 1987 McTaggart founded the Third Millennium Foundation, a US 501(c)(3) dedicated to continuing his work for disarmament, peace, and a sustainable future. The foundation, headquartered in his former home in Paciano, Italy, continues today promoting local and global projects in his memory.
In 1996 he received the journalistic prize Golden Doves for Peace issued by the Italian Research Institute Archivio Disarmo
2001Mar, 23
David McTaggart
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Events on 2001
- 6May
Pope John Paul II
During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque. - 11Sep
September 11 attacks
Two hijacked aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, while a third smashes into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks by 19 members of al-Qaeda. A total of 2,996 people are killed. - 14Sep
September 11, 2001 attacks
Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital. - 17Sep
September 11 attacks
The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression. - 7Oct
War in Afghanistan (2001-2014)
The Global War on Terrorism begins as a result of the September 11 attacks. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan initiates with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.