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From today's featured article
The 2020 season for Seattle Sounders FC was their twelfth in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of professional club soccer in the United States. It was the 37th season played by a professional team bearing the Sounders name. Seattle was the reigning MLS Cup champions and were expected to play 34 matches during the regular season, which began on March 1. The regular season was suspended on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had already caused reduced attendance at an earlier match. MLS play returned with a special tournament in July hosted at a bubble site; Seattle then hosted matches at CenturyLink Field (pictured), their home stadium, behind closed doors. The Sounders only played 22 regular season matches after several were canceled; the 2020 U.S. Open Cup was also canceled. Seattle qualified for the playoffs as the second-placed team in the Western Conference and won a second consecutive conference championship. They lost 3–0 in MLS Cup 2020 against the Columbus Crew SC. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that species of the fossil water strider Telmatrechus (example pictured) were both winged and wingless?
- ... that Eddie Eagan's gold medal at the 1932 Winter Olympics made him the first man to win a Summer and Winter Olympic gold medal in different events?
- ... that John Neal recommended buying The Token and Atlantic Souvenir "if you have a wife or so of your own"?
- ... that a group of parents discovered that a children's charity had been embezzling money?
- ... that the Nepali term "sukumbasi" refers to squatters, who typically avoid using the word because of its negative connotations?
- ... that Murad Agha, a former slave turned ruler of Ottoman Tripolitania, commissioned the construction of a mosque that doubled as a fortress?
- ... that 1Verse is the first K-pop boy band with North Korean defectors?
- ... that cave art, indigenous dance and an ancient flute inspired the work of Libyan artist Shefa Salem?
- ... that the name of a Portland soccer team refers both to sausages and long-distance goals?
In the news
- Former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte (pictured) is arrested on the basis of an International Criminal Court warrant charging him with crimes against humanity.
- Intuitive Machines' Athena lands on the Moon at an incorrect angle and is unable to complete its mission.
- In computing, Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton are awarded the Turing Award for their work on reinforcement learning.
- Chinese architect Liu Jiakun is awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
On this day
- 1537 – Croatian–Ottoman wars: After the execution of feudal lord Petar Kružić, Croatian forces at Klis surrendered to the Ottoman forces in exchange for their safe passage to northern locations.
- 1881 – Andrew Watson (pictured) captained the Scotland national football team against England, becoming the world's first black international footballer.
- 1947 – Cold War: U.S. president Harry S. Truman proclaimed the Truman Doctrine to help stem the spread of communism.
- 1952 – British diplomat Lord Ismay was appointed the first secretary general of NATO.
- 1971 – The Turkish Armed Forces executed a "coup by memorandum", forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel.
- 2006 – U.S. Army soldiers gang-raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdered her along with her family members.
- William Henry Perkin (b. 1838)
- Gemma Galgani (b. 1878)
- Zhao Wei (b. 1976)
- Arina Tanemura (b. 1978)
Today's featured picture
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The Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus) is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae endemic to the forests of Mauritius, where it is restricted to the southwestern plateau's forests, cliffs, and ravines. It colonized the island and evolved into a distinct species from other Indian Ocean kestrels, probably during the Gelasian or Early Pleistocene periods. The Mauritius kestrel can reach a size between 26 and 30.5 centimetres (10.2 and 12.0 inches), with a mass of up to 250 grams (8.8 ounces) and rounded wings with a span of approximately 45 centimetres (18 inches). Males are slightly smaller than the females. It is a carnivorous bird, eating geckos, dragonflies, cicadas, cockroaches, crickets, and small birds. It hunts by means of short, swift flights through the forests. In 2022, it was proclaimed the Mauritian national bird to mark the 30th anniversary of the Republic of Mauritius. This Mauritius kestrel was photographed in the Ebony Forest near the village of Chamarel. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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