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Eight 250t-class torpedo boats were built by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino for the Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1913 and 1916 for service in World War I. They were among 27 high-seas torpedo boats that undertook anti-submarine operations in the Adriatic Sea, shore bombardment missions along its Italian coastline, and convoy, and escort and minesweeping tasks. Under the terms of the post-war Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the boats were surrendered to Romania, Portugal, Greece, and the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). By 1940, 13 torpedo boats had been lost or scrapped. During World War II, the five remaining Greek boats were sunk by Axis aircraft during the German-led invasion of Greece in April 1941. The two Romanian boats that survived the war performed escort tasks in the Black Sea before being taken over by the Soviet Navy for service in the Black Sea Fleet. The six surviving Yugoslav boats were captured by the Italians during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, and were operated by the Italian navy in coastal and second-line escort roles. The last of the Yugoslav boats was withdrawn from service in 1962. (Full article...)

Ollagüe with steam plume on the left

• ... that Ollagüe (pictured) has a vigorous steam plume that is visible from tens of kilometres away?
• ... that the Twinnies would play accordion and sing while rollerblading?
• ... that the Seattle Sounders FC were second-to-last when they hired coach Brian Schmetzer, but finished the season by winning the MLS Cup?
• ... that after a bitter dispute over its curriculum in 1890, the High School of Montreal was destroyed by fire?
• ... that Nikolaus Herman based the melody of his Christmas carol "Lobt Gott, ihr Christen alle gleich" on the Gregorian hymn "Puer natus est nobis"?
• ... that Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong met for the last time during the Chongqing Negotiations?
• ... that Isaiah Livers won the closest Mr. Basketball of Michigan vote in history?
• ... that while pushing for the repeal of New Jersey's obscenity laws, Assemblyman Walter Kern argued that "adults should be able to purchase whatever their perverted hearts desire"?

Lunar eclipse

• A super blue blood moon (pictured) occurs for the first time in more than 150 years.
• In Yemen, separatists from the Southern Transitional Council seize government buildings in Aden from President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi's forces.
• Miloš Zeman is re-elected for a second term in the Czech presidential election.
• A bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills at least 103 people and injures more than 200 others.
• In Miryang, South Korea, a hospital fire kills 37 people and injures more than 130 others.

February 1: Black History Month begins in Canada and the United States; Fajr decade begins in Iran; National Freedom Day in the United States

The Shard, London

• 1327 – Fourteen-year-old Edward III became King of England, but the country was ruled by his mother, Queen Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer.
• 1329 – The Teutonic Knights succeeded in their siege of a fortress in Samogitia, Lithuania, and baptized the defenders in the Catholic rite.
• 1968 – Photographer Eddie Adams took his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of the summary execution of Viet Cong prisoner Nguyễn Văn Lém, which helped build opposition to the Vietnam War.
• 1978 – After having served 42 days in prison for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, Polish film director Roman Polanski fled the United States before the formal sentencing hearing.
• 2013 – The Shard (pictured), located in Southwark, London, and the tallest building in the European Union, opened to the public.

Thomas Campbell (b. 1763) · Clara Butt (b. 1872) · George Whipple (d. 1976)