Running ubuntu docker image in background

Question

I was attempting to run a docker image of Ubuntu in the background. So I tried the command below.

sudo docker container run -d --name my-ubuntu-container ubuntu:latest

This command, however, does not start the container in the background. In reality, when you verify using this method, the status changes to "EXITED."

docker container ls -a

However, if I add the "-it" flag to the above command, it works. The container then runs in the background.

sudo docker container run -itd --name my-ubuntu-container ubuntu:latest

Now with docker container ls -a, the status is now "UP" and it is running in the background.

Anyone know why adding the "-it" flag to the preceding command, together with "-d," causes the Ubuntu docker image to run in the background?