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From today's featured article

Men's trophy for the 2016 Boat Race

The Boat Races 2016 (also known for sponsorship reasons as The Cancer Research UK Boat Races) took place on 27 March 2016. The Boat Race is an annual set of side-by-side rowing races between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) stretch of the River Thames in south-west London. For the first time in the history of the event, the men's, women's and both reserves' races were held on the Tideway on the same day. Trials for the race took place on the Championship Course in December 2015, and the selected crews took part in several practice races in the build-up to the main event. The weigh-in for the men's and women's races took place on 1 March 2016, with both Cambridge's men and women the heavier crews. Pre-race betting had Cambridge's men and Oxford's women as favourites. The men's race (trophy pictured) was won by Cambridge by two and a half lengths, taking the overall record in the event to 82–79 in their favour. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Apumanque Mall

... that the Apumanque Mall (pictured) is the oldest shopping mall in Chile?
... that the Mayor of Paris has suggested adding the name of Alice Sollier, the first Black French woman to qualify as a medical doctor, to the Eiffel Tower?
... that J Dilla worked on Donuts, which was released three days before his death, in the hospital?
... that the 1945–1948 Patriarch of the Universal Gnostic Church René Chambellant later became a Member of Parliament in the Central African Republic?
... that The Inklings suggests that J. R. R. Tolkien was jealous of C. S. Lewis's admiration of Charles Williams?
... that after being asked to resign due to his cancer, ambassador Ahmad Soedarsono responded that he wanted to die on duty?
... that the Chinese Australian Herald was distributed as far away as London, the Pacific Islands, and the Philippines?
... that Sachio Ashida rebuilt a guided missile computer and repurposed it for his experiments on brain tissue?
... that FC Barcelona refused to play a Copa del Rey game in 2000?

In the news

Colombian Lockheed C-130

A Colombian Aerospace Force Lockheed C-130 crashes (aircraft pictured) during take-off in Puerto Leguízamo, killing 70 people.
In mathematics, Gerd Faltings is awarded the Abel Prize for his work in arithmetic geometry.
The World Baseball Classic concludes with Venezuela defeating the United States in the final.
In association football, the Confederation of African Football overturns the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final originally won by Senegal, declaring Morocco the winner of the tournament.

On this day

March 27: Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania (1918)

Washington Metro rolling stock

1625 – Charles I became King of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1941 – World War II: A group of Serbian-nationalist officers of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force carried out a coup d'état after Yugoslavia joined the Axis powers.
1976 – The Washington Metro (rolling stock pictured), the second-busiest rapid transit system in the U.S., opened to commuters.
2015 – Himeji Castle, the largest and most visited Japanese castle, re-opened after five years of restoration work.

Kathleen Scott (b. 1878)
Georges Vézina (d. 1926)
Leila Pahlavi (b. 1970)
Halle Bailey (b. 2000)

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From today's featured list

Hrithik Roshan

Hrithik Roshan, an Indian actor, is known for his work in Hindi films. As a child, he made uncredited appearances in three films directed by his maternal grandfather, J. Om Prakash, the first of which was in Aasha (1980). Roshan's first leading role came opposite Ameesha Patel in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000), a highly successful romantic drama directed by his father, for which he won two Filmfare Awards, for Best Male Debut and Best Actor. This initial success was followed by roles in a series of critical and commercial failures, leading critics to believe that Roshan's career was over. His career prospects improved in 2003 when he played the role of a mentally disabled teenager in his father's science fiction film Koi... Mil Gaya. Roshan starred in two top-grossing Hindi films of 2006, portraying the eponymous superhero in Krrish, a sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya, and winning another Best Actor award at Filmfare for playing a thief in the adventure film Dhoom 2. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae) is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. It is native to eastern and central South America, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Uruguay, where it inhabits forests, savannas, and semi-deserts. It is the largest known tegu lizard, with males sometimes growing up to 4.5 feet (140 cm) in length. An omnivore, the Argentine black and white tegu feeds on invertebrates, fruit, eggs, and small vertebrates. It is notable for its intelligence, popularity in the pet trade, and seasonal brumation. It is the only known non-avian reptile to show partial endothermy during the breeding season. The species is sometimes kept as a pet, and has also become invasive in parts of the United States, threatening native wildlife by preying on eggs and small animals. This male Argentine black and white tegu was photographed in the Vicente López Ecological Reserve in La Lucila, Argentina.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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