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...)
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.
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...)
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.
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