SMS Wittelsbach (His Majesty's Ship Wittelsbach) was the lead ship of her class of pre-dreadnought battleships, built for the German Imperial Navy. She was the first capital ship built under the Navy Law of 1898, which was brought about by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Wittelsbach was laid down in 1899 at the Wilhelmshaven Navy Dockyard and completed in October 1902, armed with a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and with a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). During World War I the ship served in the IV Battle Squadron, with limited non-combat duty in the Baltic Sea, including during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915. By late 1915, crew shortages and the threat from British submarines forced the navy to withdraw older battleships like Wittelsbach. The ship then saw service in auxiliary roles, first as a training ship and then as a ship's tender. In 1919, after the war, she was converted to a tender for minesweepers. (Full article...)

Part of the Battleships of Germany series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

Starry night butterfly

• ... that the larvae of the starry night butterfly (pictured) accumulate toxic chemicals in their bodies, which make the adults distasteful to birds?
• ... that the footballer Howard Spencer was the first Aston Villa player to captain England?
• ... that the lyrics to "The Kentucky Volunteer", the first song copyrighted under the United States Constitution, were written by "a Lady of Philadelphia"?
• ... that Jennie Carignan helped reintroduce ballroom dancing to the Royal Military College Saint-Jean, having taken classes with her future husband when she was a cadet?
• ... that the ancient Maya ruins of San Clemente, El Petén, in Guatemala include a two-storey palace structure and two Mesoamerican ballcourts?
• ... that Amtrak service at Tacoma Dome Station was halted on its inaugural day due to a train derailment?
• ... that German microbiologist Paul Lindner named the yeast species he discovered Schizosaccharomyces pombe after the Swahili word for beer?
• ... that soprano Cristina Pasaroiu played Manon in boots, even in bed with her lover?

Steve Smith

• In cricket, the Ashes series concludes with Australia (captain and man of the series Steve Smith pictured) beating England.
• The National Unity Party wins the most seats in the parliamentary election in Northern Cyprus.
• A passenger train collides with a truck on a level crossing near Kroonstad, South Africa, killing 19 people and injuring more than 250 others.
• In darts, Rob Cross wins the PDC World Championship on his debut.
• George Weah is elected President of Liberia.

January 13: St. Knut's Day in Finland and Sweden

Wreck of the Costa Concordia

• 1435 – Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands by the Spanish, was promulgated by Eugene IV.
• 1847 – The Treaty of Cahuenga was signed, informally ending the fighting of the Mexican–American War in California.
• 1910 – The first public radio broadcast, a live performance of Cavalleria rusticana from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, was sent over the airwaves.
• 1972 – Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a coup d'état to overthrow Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana.
• 2012 – The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground on a reef (pictured) off the shore of Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, and partially sank.

Edmund Spenser (d. 1599) · George Fox (d. 1691) · Nate Silver (b. 1978)