Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is an adventure video game developed by Chunsoft. The second installment in the Zero Escape series, it was first released on February 16, 2012, for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. The story follows the player character Sigma, a man who is abducted and forced along with eight other individuals to play the life-or-death Nonary Game. The characters begin to unravel its secrets and its true purpose. Virtue's Last Reward was developed as a result of the unexpected critical success that its predecessor, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, received in North America. Game director Kotaro Uchikoshi wrote the script, which was localized for North America by Aksys Games, and for Europe by Rising Star Games. Although critics were divided in their opinions of the escape-the-room sections, they gave Virtue's Last Reward positive reviews, especially for its story and characters. Nevertheless, the game was a commercial failure in Japan, which led to the temporary cancellation of its sequel. Development eventually resumed, and Zero Time Dilemma was released in 2016. ( Full article...)

• ... that Licancabur (pictured), despite being smaller than many of the neighbouring volcanoes, stands out among them?
• ... that establishing the chemical structure of apparicine was a notable early use of nuclear magnetic resonance decoupling?
• ... that Jean Tatlock had a romantic relationship with Robert Oppenheimer, introducing him to poetry and politics?
• ... that only two chiefs of the Indian Army have ever been promoted to field marshal?
• ... that the desert hare can produce up to 30 offspring in a year?
• ... that according to a commentator, fiddle player Joe Thompson "was the inspiration for a national revival of stringband music"?
• ... that whilst carrying out High Explosive Research, British scientists developed atomic weapons?

• Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is killed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• La La Land wins in five categories, including Best Film and Best Director ( Damien Chazelle, pictured), at the British Academy Film Awards.
• A suicide bombing at a protest rally in Lahore, Pakistan, kills at least 15 people and injures more than 80 others.
• Frank-Walter Steinmeier is elected President of Germany.
• In association football, the Africa Cup of Nations concludes with Cameroon defeating Egypt in the final.

February 16: Day of the Shining Star in North Korea

• 1270 – Livonian Crusade: In the Battle of Karuse, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania achieved a decisive victory over the Livonian Order on the frozen surface of the Baltic Sea.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Union victory in the Battle of Fort Donelson gave General Ulysses S. Grant the nickname "Unconditional Surrender".
• 1923 – Howard Carter, the English Egyptologist and archaeologist, unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun (mask pictured).
• 1943 – Second World War: Norwegian commandos destroyed a factory to prevent the German nuclear weapon project from acquiring heavy water.
• 1961 – The DuSable Museum, the first museum dedicated to the study and conservation of African American history, culture, and art, was chartered.

Richard of Dover (d. 1184) · Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (b. 1922)

L'éclair is an opéra comique in three acts by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. Premiered by the Paris Opéra-Comique at the Salle de la Bourse on 16 December 1835, the opera was well received. It follows the amours of the Englishman George and the American Lyonel for two sisters, the bachelorette Henriette and the widow Mme. Darbel. Illustration: Paul Gavarni; restoration: Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Fort Pierce, Florida Saudade Clanculus corallinus Archive More featured pictures...