Free Republic

In its day, the Tower of London has seen off with many an illustrious head.* Its last use as an execution grounds occurred, all but invisibly, on this date in 1941, with the shooting of German spy Josef Jakobs. It’s safe to say that Jakobs won’t be competing with Anne Boleyn in the book sales department any time soon. He was, truth be told, barely a spy at all: parachuted into Huntingdonshire on January 31, 1941 with intent to reconnoiter, the guy was observed in his descent by (undoubtedly excited) local defense volunteers. They raced to the landing point but...

'It was a little-known Second World War tactic to fool the Germans - and it certainly did the job. These extraordinary photos reveal how Operation Starfish helped to dupe Nazi aircraft by creating a number of decoy towns which were built to lure enemy bombers away from more populated areas. The Starfish Sites - which got their name from the initials ‘SF’, standing for ‘Special Fire’ sites - were designed by Colonel John Turner and were intended to simulate burning UK cities during the Blitz.'