20250912
From today's featured article
Felice Beato (c. 1832 – 1909) was an Italian-British photographer. He was one of the first to take photographs in East Asia and one of the first war photographers. He is noted for his genre works, portraits, and views and panoramas of the architecture and landscapes of Asia and the Mediterranean region. His travels let him create images of countries, people and events that were unfamiliar and remote to most people in Europe and North America. His work provides images of such events as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the Second Opium War, and represents the first substantial body of photojournalism. Beato was the official photographer of the Nile Expedition led by G. J. Wolseley to Khartoum, Sudan, in relief of General Charles Gordon. Beato influenced other photographers; and his impact in Japan, where he taught and worked with other photographers and artists, was particularly deep and lasting. He pioneered and refined the techniques of hand-colouring photographs and making panoramas. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that basketball player Liatu King (pictured) played boys' American football when she was a child?
- ... that the kinetic-energy output from the 2011 Sawyerville–Eoline tornado was almost twice as high as that released during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima?
- ... that a study found the Curtis Bay Incinerator causes US$36.9 million in damage per year to public health?
- ... that it only took 13 minutes to sell out the second season of Crypto: The Game?
- ... that the 1966 production of Peter Handke's Offending the Audience, directed by Claus Peymann at the Theater am Turm, has been described as "the beginning of modern theatre"?
- ... that kart racing has crowned its first female champion in a global series since 1966 within its newly established OK-N category?
- ... that Soviet Island is in Japan?
- ... that one reviewer wrote that the tone of Meat Is Murder "begs for a belt in the chops"?
- ... that Boogie Knight was selected to a team of the best college football player names along with General Booty and Storm Duck?
In the news
- Political activist Charlie Kirk (pictured) is shot and killed at an event in Utah, United States.
- Israel attacks the Hamas leadership in Doha, Qatar.
- In Nepal, Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli resigns amid anti-corruption protests.
- In the Norwegian parliamentary election, the centre-left bloc wins a majority of the seats in the Storting.
On this day
- 1309 – Reconquista: Castilian forces captured Gibraltar from the Emirate of Granada.
- 1885 – The Scottish Cup match between Arbroath and Bon Accord ended 36–0, which is still a world record for an unrigged professional association football match.
- 1962 – In a speech at Rice Stadium in Houston, U.S. president John F. Kennedy reiterated an aspiration to land a man on the Moon before 1970 (video featured).
- 2003 – The first public release of Steam, a distribution service for computer games, was made available for download.
- 2008 – A Metrolink train collided head-on with a freight train in Los Angeles, California, resulting in 25 deaths and 135 injuries; the Metrolink driver had passed through a red signal, having likely been distracted by text messaging.
- Andronikos I Komnenos (d. 1185)
- Mary Jane Patterson (b. 1840)
- Grahame Clark (d. 1995)
- Sydney Sweeney (b. 1997)
From today's featured list
Today's featured picture

The common ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula) is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. Its breeding range consists of much of northern Eurasia, as well as Greenland. It is a migratory bird and many individuals spend their winters in locations across Africa. Its breeding habitat is generally open ground on beaches or flats although some birds breed inland. They are commonly found both in low coastal plains and in cold uplands with sparse vegetation, in open habitats with little or no plant cover, where they nest on the ground. Breeding occurs from one year of age, with egg laying generally beginning around May. A clutch of three to four eggs is laid at intervals of one to three days, with the downy grey-buff chicks hatching after twenty-one to twenty-seven days. The common ringed plover forages for food on beaches, tidal flats and fields, usually by sight. It eats insects, crustaceans and worms, forages both by day and by night, and sometimes uses foot-trembling to reveal location of prey. This common ringed plover was photographed near Orkelsjøen, a lake in Oppdal, Norway.
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp