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Today's featured article

Iron Man was portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in 1962 and received his own title in 1968. Shortly after his creation, Iron Man became a founding member of the superhero team the Avengers, with Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp and the Hulk. Iron Man stories have been published consistently since the character's creation. Iron Man is the superhero persona of Tony Stark, a businessman and engineer who runs the weapons manufacturing company Stark Industries. When Stark was captured in a war zone and sustained a severe heart wound, he built his Iron Man armor and escaped his captors. Iron Man's suits grant him superhuman strength, flight, energy projection and other abilities. Robert Downey Jr. (pictured) portrayed Tony Stark from 2008 to 2019. His portrayal popularized the character, making Iron Man one of Marvel's most recognizable superheroes. (Full article...)

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Selected anniversaries

October 20

Pope Pius XII

1939 – Pope Pius XII (pictured) published his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus, which critiqued ideologies such as racism, cultural superiority and totalitarianism.
1951 – African-American college football player Johnny Bright was the victim of an on-field assault, eventually leading to changes in NCAA football rules that mandated the use of more protective helmets with face guards.
1967 – Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified subject, which they claimed was Bigfoot, at Six Rivers National Forest in California.
1984 – The Spanish trawler Sonia sank in British waters after a five-hour chase by the Irish Naval Service patrol vessel Aisling, during which almost 600 shots were fired.
1991 – An earthquake struck the Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing at least 768 people and destroying thousands of homes.

Sennacherib (d. 681 BC)
Bálint Balassi (b. 1554)
Simon de Vos (b. 1603)
Stéphane Hessel (b. 1917)

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In the news

Yahya Sinwar

Yahya Sinwar (pictured), the leader of Hamas, is killed in a firefight with Israeli forces in Gaza.
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson for their comparative studies of prosperity between nations.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft is launched to investigate Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter.
Kenyan Ruth Chepng'etich breaks the women's marathon world record at the Chicago Marathon.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the Japanese atomic bomb survivors group Nihon Hidankyo.

Did you know...

Catharina Weiss

... that Catharina Weiss (pictured) used to play for the Rolling Chocolate?
... that King Minkhaung I of Ava lamented that King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy had invaded his country without "breaking a sword or a lance"?
... that Andreas Vogt yelled "Down with the government! Long live the republic!" at a session of the Landtag of Liechtenstein in 1919?
... that "Dark Avenger", a song from Manowar's album Battle Hymns, is narrated by actor Orson Welles?
... that real paramedics were hired to portray EMTs in Mongrel, and they responded to a medical emergency that occurred in a village where they were filming?
... that labor lawyer Dick Moss argued the 1975 case which resulted in the establishment of free agency in Major League Baseball?
... that Louis Vuitton helped to develop the visual arts programme for the School of the Arts, Singapore?
... that the University of Memphis football team posthumously retired Danton Barto's number following an online petition?
... that the 1935 Brussels Party Conference of the Communist Party of Germany took place in the outskirts of Moscow?

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