IT HAPPENED TODAY

MAY8

1701: Captain Kidd went on trial at the Old Bailey for piracy. He was hanged on May 23.

1828: Jean Henri Dunant, philanthropist and founder of the International Red Cross, was born in Geneva.

1902: Mount Pelee erupted on the island of Martinique, destroying the town of St Pierre and killing more than 30,000 people in just three minutes.

1945: VE Day. The Second World War in Europe officially ended at one minute past midnight.

1961: George Blake (above), a former British diplomat, was jailed for 42 years for spying for Russia. He escaped from Wormwood Scrubs in 1966.

1970: The Beatles’ final album, Let It Be, was released.

1980: The World Health Organization announced that smallpox had been eradicated.

1989: Paul Mccartney (above) released a remake of Ferry Cross the Mersey in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool football fans.

2008: Vladimir Putin was appointed Russian Prime Minister.

2013: Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement as Manchester United’s manager at the end of the season.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Scientists said finding the fossil of a newly discovered species was further evidence of the existence of tiny dinosaurs with bat-like wings.

BIRTHDAYS: Sir David Attenborough (below), naturalist, 94; Jack Charlton, former footballer and manager, 85; Norman Lamont, former Chancellor

of the Exchequer, 78; Melissa Gilbert, actress, 56; Enrique Iglesias, singer, 45; Ian ‘H’ Watkins, actor and singer (Steps), 44; Michelle Mcmanus, former Pop Idol winner/singer, 40; Matt Willis, singer (Busted)/presenter, 37.