The most-visited English Wikipedia articles, updated daily. Learn more...
The kraken () is a legendary cephalopod-like sea monster of gigantic size in Scandinavian folklore. According to the Norse sagas, the kraken dwells off the coasts of Norway and Greenland and terrorizes nearby sailors. Authors over the years have postulated that the legend may have originated from sightings of giant squids that may grow to 13–15 meters (40–50 feet) in length.
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.
Demetria Devonne Lovato ( lə-VAH-toh; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, television personality, author, and activist. After appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004), she rose to prominence for her role as Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel musical television film Camp Rock (2008) and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010).
Folklore (stylized in all lowercase) is the upcoming eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, scheduled to be released on July 24, 2020, through Republic Records. It is being released eleven months after Swift's seventh studio album, Lover (2019), and was conceived in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kauaʻi ʻōʻō or ʻōʻōʻāʻā (Moho braccatus) was a member of the extinct genus of the ʻōʻōs (Moho) within the extinct family Mohoidae from the islands of Hawai'i. It was previously regarded as member of the Australo-Pacific honeyeaters (family Meliphagidae). This bird was endemic to the island of Kauaʻi.
Murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German
On February 14, 2017, the bodies of Abigail Williams and Liberty German were discovered near the Monon High Bridge Trail, which is part of the Delphi Historic Trails in Delphi, Indiana, United States, after the young girls had disappeared from the same trail the previous day.
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990 and was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to successively unify them.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American former professional basketball player and the principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls.
Bol Manute Bol (; born November 16, 1999) is an American professional basketball player with Sudanese heritage, for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on a two-way contract. He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. A son of basketball player Manute Bol, Bol was born in Khartoum but began living in Kansas from a young age.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; Spanish: [oˈkasjo koɾˈtes]; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district. The district includes the eastern part of the Bronx and portions of north-central Queens in New York City. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Eugene Merle (Gene) Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was an American geologist and one of the founders of the field of planetary science. He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was televised around the world.
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her narrative songwriting that often centers around her personal life, which has received widespread critical praise and media coverage. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 2004 to pursue a career in music.
Jude Victor William Bellingham (born 29 June 2003) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Bellingham joined Birmingham City as an under-8, became the club's youngest ever first-team player when he made his senior debut in August 2019, at the age of 16 years, 38 days, and played regularly during the 2019–20 season.
"Pizzagate" is a debunked conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, DC police. In March 2016, the personal email account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, was hacked in a spear-phishing attack.
COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory
This article provides a general overview and documents the status of locations affected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The first human cases of COVID-19 were identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
F5 Networks, Inc. is a transnational company that specializes in application services and application delivery networking (ADN). F5 technologies focus on the delivery, security, performance, and availability of web applications, including the availability of computing, storage, and network resources.
Elon Reeve Musk (; born June 28, 1971) is an engineer, industrial designer, technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI.
Ghost of Tsushima () is an action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 4. Featuring an open world for players to explore, it revolves around Jin Sakai, one of the last samurai on Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan. The game was released on July 17, 2020.
Kimberly Noel Kardashian West (née Kardashian; born October 21, 1980) is an American media personality, socialite, model, businesswoman, and actress. Kardashian first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton but received wider notice after a 2002 sex tape, Kim Kardashian, Superstar, with her then-boyfriend Ray J was released in 2007.
The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey expansion team that will be based in Seattle, Washington, and will begin play in the 2021–22 National Hockey League (NHL) season. The team will compete in the NHL as a member club of the league's Pacific Division in the Western Conference. The team is owned by Seattle Hockey Partners and will play their home games at Climate Pledge Arena.
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a long period comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. At that time, it was an 18th-magnitude object, located 2 AU (300 million km; 190 million mi) away from the Sun and 1. 7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) away from Earth.
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 Queens, a borough of New York City, and received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School.
Halo Infinite is an upcoming first-person shooter video game co-developed by 343 Industries and SkyBox Labs and published by Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The game is set to be released as a launch title for Xbox Series X in late 2020, the sixth main entry of the Halo series, and the fourteenth game overall.
The Old Guard is a 2020 American superhero film directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Greg Rucka, based on his comic book of the same name. The film stars Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Harry Melling, Van Veronica Ngo and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and follows a team of immortal mercenaries on a revenge mission.
Little Saint James, U.S. Virgin Islands
Little Saint James is a private island of the United States Virgin Islands, off the coast of St. Thomas, and belongs to the subdistrict East End, Saint Thomas. The 70–78 acres (28–32 ha) island was owned by American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from 1998 until his 2019 death.
Edward Robert Muscare (Born Eduardo Muscare; September 27, 1932, died January 8, 2012), also known by his pseudonyms of Edarem and Uncle Ed, was an American television presenter, actor and internet celebrity. He gained success in the latter field through his eccentric and comedic posts on YouTube, uploaded from 2006 through 2009.
Earl Simmons (born December 18, 1970), better known by his stage name DMX, is an American rapper and songwriter. He began rapping in the early 1990s, and released his debut album It's Dark and Hell Is Hot in 1998, to both critical acclaim and commercial success, selling 251,000 copies within its first week of release. He released his best-selling album, . . .
Dil Bechara (transl. The helpless heart) is an upcoming 2020 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic drama film which is the directorial debut of Mukesh Chhabra. Based on John Green's 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars, it stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Saif Ali Khan and Sanjana Sanghi, and was initially titled Kizie Aur Manny (transl. Kizie and Manny).
John Leak, VC (c. 1892 – 20 October 1972) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded at that time to a member of the Australian armed forces. Leak enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in early 1915, and served with the 9th Battalion in the Gallipoli Campaign during the First World War.
Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American former actress, author, producer and model. She 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.
Martha Helen Stewart (née Kostyra; Polish pronunciation: [kɔ'stɨra]; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, television personality, and former model. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising and e-commerce.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3. 8 million square miles (9. 8 million km2), it is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area.
Organisms of many species are specialized into male and female varieties, each known as a sex. Sexual reproduction involves the combining and mixing of genetic traits: specialized cells known as gametes combine to form offspring that inherit traits from each parent. The gametes produced by an organism define its sex: males produce small gametes (e. g.
Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox. In 2018 he became the first player in MLB history to win the Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, batting title, and World Series in the same season.
Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the High School Musical trilogy (2006–2008). During this time, he also starred in the musical film Hairspray (2007) and the comedy film 17 Again (2009).
Chandra Shekhar Azad (pronunciation ; sometimes also spelled Chandrasekhar; 23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as by his self-taken name Azad ("The Free"), was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) after the death of its founder, Ram Prasad Bismil, and three other prominent party leaders, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Nath Lahiri and Ashfaqulla Khan.
Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack (née Bertolotti; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and singer. Born in Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and pursued a career in acting. Her breakthrough role was as Tai Frasier in Clueless (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent films such as Freeway (1996) and Bongwater (1998).
Roald Dahl (Norwegian: [ˈrùːɑl ˈdɑːl], commonly pronounced as ; 13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl was born in Wales to Norwegian immigrant parents. He served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
YouTube is an American online 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.
John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor, producer, and musician. He has been nominated for ten Golden Globe Awards, winning one for Best Actor for his performance of the title role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Actor, among other accolades.
Wikipedia ( (listen) wik-ih-PEE-dee-ə or (listen) wik-ee-PEE-dee-ə; abbreviated as WP) is a multilingual online encyclopedia created and maintained as an open collaboration project by a community of volunteer editors using a wiki-based editing system. It is the largest and most popular general reference work on the World Wide Web.
Rodney James Alcala (born Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Buquor; August 23, 1943) is an American convicted rapist and serial killer who was sentenced to death in California for five murders committed in that state between 1977 and 1979, and received an additional sentence of 25 years to life after pleading guilty to two homicides committed in New York in 1971 and 1977.
The Premier League, often referred to as the English Premier League or the EPL outside England, is the top level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League (EFL). Seasons run from August to May with each team playing 38 matches (playing all 19 other teams both home and away).
Lin-Manuel Miranda (born January 16, 1980) is an American composer, lyricist, actor, singer, rapper, producer, and playwright, widely known for creating and starring in the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton. His awards include a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.
Kayleigh McEnany (; born April 18, 1988) is an American political commentator, lawyer, and author, serving as the 31st and current White House Press Secretary since April 2020. A graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard University, she began her media career as a producer for Huckabee on Fox News and later worked as a commentator on CNN.
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, born 21 April 1926) is Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth realms. Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Her father ascended the throne on the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive.
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the United States in January 2020. The first confirmed case of local transmission was recorded in January, while the first known deaths happened in February. By the end of March, cases had occurred in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and all inhabited U.S. territories except American Samoa.
Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Worm", he is known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities. Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Meg Johnson is an American poet and lecturer. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including Midwestern Gothic, Slipstream Magazine, Word Riot, Hobart, and many others. Her first collection of poems, Inappropriate Sleepover, was released in 2014, her second collection, The Crimes of Clara Turlington, was released in December 2015.
Cleopatra VII Philopator (Koinē Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopátra Philopátōr; 69 – 10 or 12 August 30 BC) was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.