Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 May 12

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From today's featured article

Sigi Schmid (born 1953) is a German-American soccer coach. Born in Tübingen, West Germany, he moved to the United States with his family when he was a child. He played college soccer as a midfielder from 1972 to 1975 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He coached his former college team between 1980 and 1999 and became one of the most successful collegiate coaches of all time. The UCLA Bruins made 16 consecutive playoff appearances from 1983 to 1998, winning the national championship in 1985, 1990, and 1997. Schmid also worked with US Soccer throughout the 1990s. Schmid has coached the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer (MLS). He became the head coach of Seattle Sounders FC in 2009. Throughout his career, Schmid has received praise from critics for his ability to identify new talent. His defensive tactics are also highly regarded in the press, although their deployment in his final two seasons with Los Angeles led directly to the termination of his contract. Despite never having played soccer at a professional level, he has the most coaching wins in MLS history, and was the recipient of the MLS Coach of the Year Award in 1999 and 2008. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the coat of arms of Fiji (pictured) was retained after independence from the United Kingdom in 1970, partly because of its links to the last Fijian king, who ceded his country to Britain?
... that despite winning the Baja 1000 four times (twice overall) in off-road competition, Mark Stahl never finished better than 16th in NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock cars?
... that the natural monument Vápenice in the Czech Republic is a former limestone quarry?
... that Doris Huestis Speirs, after whom an annual prize bestowed by the Society of Canadian Ornithologists is named, exhibited her paintings with the Group of Seven and the Canadian Group of Painters?
... that Xining's People's Park was designed by a recent college graduate?
... that the syndicalist Léa Roback opened the first Marxist book store in Montreal?
... that Umeå Energi set up lamps in bus shelters to avoid people getting SAD?

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In the news

The ruling African National Congress wins a majority in the South African general election.
"Rise Like a Phoenix" by Austrian singer Conchita Wurst (pictured) wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
Syrian government forces capture the strategic city of Homs after three years of siege and a ceasefire agreement allowing rebel withdrawal.
The Constitutional Court of Thailand rules that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra abused her power and removes her from office.
Mark Selby defeats Ronnie O'Sullivan to win the World Snooker Championship.

Ongoing: Ukrainian unrest – Chibok kidnapping
Recent deaths: Farley Mowat – Maria Lassnig – Tatiana Samoilova

On this day...

May 12: International Nurses Day

907– Zhu Wen forced Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang Dynasty after nearly three hundred years of rule.
1364 – King of Poland Casimir III issued a royal charter to establish Jagiellonian University, the nation's oldest university.
1881 – Under the threat of invasion, the Bey of Tunis Muhammad III as-Sadiq signed the Treaty of Bardo to make Tunisia a French protectorate.
1926 – The crew of the airship Norge (pictured), led by Roald Amundsen, became the first people to make a verified trip to the North Pole.
1958 – Canada and the United States signed a formal agreement establishing the North American Air Defense Command to provide aerospace warning and defense for North America.

More anniversaries: May 11 – May 12 – May 13

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From today's featured list

A green circle with two white, concentric circles inside all forming a border to Arabic calligraphy which fills the inner green circle

The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam. According to the theology of Twelvers, the Twelve Imams are infallible human individuals who not only ruled over the community with justice, but also were able to keep and interpret sharia. It is believed by Twelver Shia Muslims that the Twelve Imams were foretold in the Hadith of the Twelve Successors. The Imams were guided by secret texts in their possession, such as al-Jafr and al-Jamia. Ali (calligraphy pictured) was the first of the Twelve Imams, and, in the Twelvers' view, the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali. The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be currently alive, and hidden in the Major Occultation until he returns to bring justice to the world. All of the Imams met unnatural deaths, with the exception of the last Imam. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The green heron (Butorides virescens) is a heron species of North and Central America; this specimen was photographed at Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. Adults have a body length of about 44 cm (17 in) and have been known to use tools to attract fish which they then eat.

Photograph: Basar

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