ON THIS DAY

● 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, 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.

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1980: The World Health

Organisation announced that smallpox had been eradicated.

● 1989: Paul McCartney 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.

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

● 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, 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; Michelle McManus, former Pop Idol winner/singer, 40.