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Qasem Soleimani (Persian: قاسم سلیمانی, pronounced [ɢɒːˌsem(e) solejmɒːˈniː]; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020) was an Iranian Major General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, from 1998 until his death in 2020, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.
Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress, writer and former model. She has frequently appeared in comedies throughout her career, while also earning critical recognition in dramatic films. Her accolades include four Golden Globe Award nominations, three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, and a New York Film Critics Award.
Iran (Persian: ایران Irān [ʔiːˈɾɒːn] (listen)), also called Persia, and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān (listen) [dʒomhuːˌɾije eslɒːˌmije ʔiːˈɾɒn]), is a country in Western Asia. With 82 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 18th most populous country.
Benjamin Levi Madden (né Combs; born March 11, 1979) is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer. He is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the band Good Charlotte, as well as pop rock collaboration The Madden Brothers. He formed both of these acts with his identical twin brother, Joel Madden.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (also known as Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) is a 2019 American epic space-opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams. It is the third installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), and the final episode of the nine-part "Skywalker saga".
2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike
The 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike was a 3 January 2020 drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, which killed Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Soleimani was commander of the Quds Force, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Luka Rocco Magnotta (born Eric Clinton Kirk Newman; July 24, 1982) is a Canadian murderer who was convicted of killing and dismembering Chinese international student Jun Lin before mailing Lin's hands and feet to elementary schools and federal political party offices. This act gained international notoriety.
The Quds Force (Persian: سپاه قدس sepāh-e qods) is a unit in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization roughly analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States.
Messiah is an American thriller web television series created by Michael Petroni. The first season consists of ten episodes, which were released on Netflix on January 1, 2020. The series stars Mehdi Dehbi, Tomer Sisley, Michelle Monaghan, John Ortiz, Melinda Page Hamilton, Stefania LaVie Owen, Jane Adams, Sayyid El Alami, Fares Landoulsi, and Wil Traval.
The second season of the American psychological thriller television series You was initially ordered by Lifetime on July 26, 2018. On December 3, 2018, it was announced that Lifetime had passed on the second season and that the series would move to Netflix as a Netflix Original series. The second season is loosely based on the novel Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes.
Devin "Motor" Singletary (born September 3, 1997) is an American football running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). As a sophomore in 2017, he led all Division I FBS players with 32 rushing touchdowns, 33 overall touchdowns scored, and 198 points scored, and finished with 1,920 rushing yards. He played college football at Florida Atlantic.
Justin James "J. J." Watt (born March 22, 1989) is an American football defensive end for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Texans in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Watt received the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times in his first five seasons.
The following deaths of notable individuals occurred in 2020. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order by surname or pseudonym. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent nationality (if applicable), what subject was noted for, cause of death (if known), and reference.
The Ariel Castro kidnappings took place between 2002 and 2004 when Ariel Castro kidnapped Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus and held them captive in his home in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. They were imprisoned until May 6, 2013, when Berry escaped with her six-year-old daughter, to whom she had given birth while imprisoned, and contacted the police.
Laxmi Agarwal (born 1 June 1990) is an Indian acid attack survivor, a campaigner for rights of acid attack victims and a TV host. Agarwal was attacked in 2005 at an age of 15, by a 32-year-old man named Naeem Khan , whose romantic advances she had rebuffed. Her story, among others, was told in a series on acid attack victims by Hindustan Times.
The HTTP 404, 404 Not Found, 404, Page Not Found, or Server Not Found error message is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) standard response code, in computer network communications, to indicate that the browser was able to communicate with a given server, but the server could not find what was requested.
The Witcher (Polish: Wiedźmin, Polish pronunciation: [ˈvʲɛd͡ʑmʲin]) is a fantasy series of novels and short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the titular "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are beast hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle wild beasts and monsters.
2019–20 Australian bushfire season
The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season involves a series of bushfires that are currently burning across Australia, predominantly in the south-east. The 2019–20 bushfire season is of notable intensity compared to previous seasons as it has burned an estimated 10.
Marnus Labuschagne ( or ; born 22 June 1994) is a South African-born Australian international cricketer who plays Test matches for the Australian national team and domestic cricket for the Queensland cricket team. He has played county cricket for Glamorgan and in the Big Bash League for Brisbane Heat.
James Riddle Hoffa (born February 14, 1913; disappeared July 30, 1975, declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) union from 1957 until 1971. From an early age, Hoffa was a union activist and became an important regional figure with the IBT by his mid-20s.
Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill (; born 5 May 1983) is an English actor. He began his career with roles in the feature adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and I Capture the Castle (2003). He later appeared in supporting roles in several television series, including BBC's The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, ITV's Midsomer Murders, and Showtime's The Tudors.
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, novella or (usually serialized) novel form, a format that continues into the present day.
Little Women is a 2019 American coming-of-age period drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig. It is the seventh film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep.
Esmail Qa'ani (also spelled Esmail/Ismail Gha'ani, Persian: اسماعیل قاآنی; born 8 August 1957) is an Iranian Brigadier General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commander of its Quds Force — a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom. It features a large ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie.
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose Windsor; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and the only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Margaret spent much of her childhood with her parents and sister. Her life changed dramatically in 1936, when her paternal uncle King Edward VIII abdicated to marry divorcée Wallis Simpson.
List of states with nuclear weapons
Eight sovereign states have publicly announced successful detonation of nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In order of acquisition of nuclear weapons these are the United States, Russia (the successor state to the Soviet Union), the United Kingdom, France, and China.
Iran and the United States have had no formal diplomatic relations since 1980. Pakistan serves as Iran's protecting power in the United States, while Switzerland serves as the United States' protecting power in Iran. Contacts are carried out through the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the US Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.
Rose Arianna McGowan (born September 5, 1973) is an American actress, activist, model, and author. After her film debut in a brief role in the comedy Encino Man (1992), McGowan achieved wider recognition for her performance in Gregg Araki's dark comedy The Doom Generation (1995), receiving an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance.
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is the 45th and current president of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality. Trump was born and raised in the New York City borough of Queens, and received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School.
SN 1604, also known as Kepler's Supernova, Kepler's Nova or Kepler's Star, was a Type Ia supernova that occurred in the Milky Way, in the constellation Ophiuchus. Appearing in 1604, it is the most recent supernova in our galaxy to have been unquestionably observed by the naked eye, occurring no farther than 6 kiloparsecs (20,000 light-years) from Earth.
1917 is a 2019 epic war film directed, co-written and produced by Sam Mendes. The film stars George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch. The film is based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes.
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coterminous with Kings County, located in the U.S. state of New York, the most populous county in the state, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States. It is New York City's most populous borough, with an estimated 2,504,700 residents in 2010.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) (Persian: سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, romanized: Sepâh-e Pâsdârân-e Enghelâb-e Eslâmi, lit. 'Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution' or Sepâh for short) is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, founded after the Iranian Revolution on 22 April 1979 by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster, owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest of any kind. It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages to many parts of the world on analogue and digital shortwave platforms, internet streaming, podcasting, satellite, DAB, FM and MW relays.
Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Iranian Armed Forces (Persian: نيروهای مسلح جمهوری اسلامی ايران) comprise the Army (Artesh), the Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepāh) and the Law Enforcement Force (Police) of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These forces total about 523,000 active personnel (not including the Law Enforcement Force). All branches of armed forces fall under the command of General Staff of Armed Forces.
Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Alcott wrote the books over several months at the request of her publisher. Following the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters.
Conscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States, commonly known as the draft, has been employed by the federal government of the United States in five conflicts: the American Revolution, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War (including both the Korean War and the Vietnam War).
Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record label Syco Music as a recording artist, after which Labrinth became the first singer who Cowell signed without having competed on a talent show in six years.
Spinning Out is an American drama web television series, created by Samantha Stratton, that premiered on Netflix on January 1, 2020. The series stars Kaya Scodelario as Kat Baker, a young ice skater who suffers a serious injury and is offered the opportunity to restart her career as a pairs skater all while hiding her family's history of mental illness.
Jamal Ja'far Muhammad Ali Al Ibrahim (Arabic: جمال جعفر محمد علي آل إبراهيم Jamāl Jaʿfar Muḥammad ʿAlīy ʾĀl ʾIbrāhīm, 1 July 1954 – 3 January 2020), known by the kunya Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (Arabic: أبو مهدي المهندس, lit. 'Abu Mahdi, the Engineer'), also spelled Mohandes, was an Iraqi politician and military commander.
Manual babbling is a linguistic phenomenon that has been observed in deaf children and hearing children born to deaf parents who have been exposed to sign language. Manual babbles are characterized by repetitive movements that are confined to a limited area in front of the body similar to the sign-phonetic space used in sign languages.
Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she played small television roles before appearing in films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover girl. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic and dramatic acting performances, Tate was hailed as one of Hollywood's most promising newcomers.
The Iran–Iraq War began on 22 September 1980, when Iraq invaded Iran, and it ended on 20 August 1988, when Iran accepted the UN-brokered ceasefire. Iraq wanted to replace Iran as the dominant Persian Gulf state, and was worried the 1979 Iranian Revolution would lead Iraq's Shi'ite majority to rebel against the Ba'athist government.
The Star Wars franchise has spawned multiple live-action and animated films. The franchise started with a film trilogy set in medias res—beginning in the middle of the story—which was later expanded to a trilogy of trilogies. The original trilogy was released between 1977 and 1983, the prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, and a sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019.
Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; German pronunciation: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈalɔʏzi̯ʊs ˈʁatsɪŋɐ]; 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as head of the Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2005 until his resignation in 2013.
Dabangg 3 is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Prabhu Deva and co-produced by Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan under their respective banners of Salman Khan Films and Arbaaz Khan Productions. The film serves as a circumquel the 2010 film Dabangg and 2012 film Dabangg 2, and is the third installment of the Dabangg film series.
Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster and writer who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019. He began his career specialising in literary criticism before becoming television critic for The Observer in 1972, where he made his name for his wry, deadpan humour.
Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.
Nicole Camille Richie (née Escovedo; born September 21, 1981) is an American television personality, fashion designer, author, socialite and actress. Richie rose to prominence for her role in the Fox reality television series The Simple Life, alongside her childhood best friend and fellow socialite Paris Hilton, which lasted five seasons.
The Apple Network Server (ANS) was a line of PowerPC-based server computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from February 1996 to April 1997. It was codenamed "Shiner" and originally consisted of two models, the Network Server 500/132 ("Shiner LE", i. e. , "low-end") and the Network Server 700/150 ("Shiner HE", i. e.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, 10 June 1921), is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant.
The Masked Singer (British TV series)
The Masked Singer is a British reality singing competition television series based on the Masked Singer franchise which originated from the South Korean version of the show King of Mask Singer. It premiered on ITV on 4 January 2020.
Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is the heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest son of Elizabeth II. He has been Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay since 1952, and he is the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in British history. He is also the longest-serving Prince of Wales, having held that title since 1958.
YouTube is an American video-sharing platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. Three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—created the service in February 2005. Google bought the site in November 2006 for US$1. 65 billion; YouTube now operates as one of Google's subsidiaries.
World War II (often abbreviated to WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries.
Marriage Story is a 2019 American drama film written, directed and produced by Noah Baumbach. It stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, with Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson, Julie Hagerty, Merritt Wever, and Wallace Shawn in supporting roles. The film follows a married couple (Johansson and Driver) going through a coast-to-coast divorce.