01/28/1918
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, author of In Flanders Fields, dies of pneumonia and meningitis while commanding a Canadian General Hospital in France.

01/28/1986
The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida. All seven astronauts on board are killed.

01/29/1944
HMCS Huron acts as part of the destroyer escort for 17 ships of the Murmansk convoy JW-56B out of Scotland. After a week at sea, they cross paths with U-boats. U-956 fires three torpedoes at the escorts. A British destroyer and a U-boat are sunk. The convoy reaches Murmansk without loss to its merchant ships.

01/29/1946
The racing schooner Bluenose strikes a reef and sinks of Haiti.

01/30/1933
Hitler becomes Germany’s Chancellor.

01/30/1944
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment attacks the high ground above the Arielli Valley in Italy. There are heavy losses, but the attack succeeds in pinning enemy units in the sector.

01/31/1916
6th Canadian Brigade (2nd Division) stages a raid against the Spanbroekmolen salient on the Western Front. In a matter of minutes two parties from the 28th and 29th battalions cross no man’s land, capture prisoners, destroy German dugouts, and use grenades to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy before returning to the Canadian lines.

01/31/1923
The Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve is established.

02/1/1944
Chinese forces attack in northern Burma at Taihpa.

02/1/1944
1st Cdn. Corps Headquarters takes over the front in Italy north of Ortona, under the command of Lieutenant-General H.D.G. Crerar. For the first time since the First World War, a Canadian Corps is operating in the front line.

02/2/1943
Following a long and bloody siege, the Germans surrender at Stalingrad.

02/3/1916
A spectacular fire destroys much of the Parliament Buildings. Only the library is left standing.