On Jan. 30, 1945, during World War II, more than 500 Allied captives held at the Japanese prison camp in Cabanatuan in the Philippines were liberated by U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrilla fighters. Adolf Hitler marked the 12th anniversary of his appointment as Germany’s chancellor with his last public speech in which he called on Germans to keep resisting until victory.

Ten years ago

Video aired by Al-Jazeera showed American journalist Jill Carroll, kidnapped while in Iraq, wearing an Islamic veil and weeping (she was released on March 30, 2006) Jennifer San Marco, an ex-postal worker, killed a former neighbor in Santa Barbara, California, before opening fire at a mail processing plant in Goleta, killing six people before committing suicide.

Five years ago

Egypt’s most prominent democracy advocate, Mohamed ElBaradei, called for President Hosni Mubarak to resign during an address to thousands of protesters in Cairo who were defying a curfew for a third night. Rachid Ghanouchi, leader of the long-outlawed Tunisian Islamist party, returned home after two decades in exile.

One year ago

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that even if no competitive advantage was gained, the New England Patriots could face penalties if a league investigation found they violated rules by deflating footballs in the AFC championship game. Speaking to reporters two days before the Patriots would face Seattle in the Super Bowl, Goodell declared that the NFL is “a league of rules.”

— By The Associated Press