Also on this day

1580: Playwright Thomas Middleton is born.

1909: Joan of Arc is beatified.

1954: Gamal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.

1955: Albert Einstein, pictured, dies.

and destroying 25,000 buildings. Up to 90 per cent of the damage was caused by the inferno, which was only extinguished by rain.

More than 3,000 people died, and quarter of a million were left homeless. The cost was estimated at nearly £5billion in today’s terms.

Aid reached the city and the determination to rebuild was palpable. HG Wells, on a visit to New York at the time, commented: “Everyone is talking of it this afternoon, and no one is in the least degree dismayed – there is no doubt anywhere that San Francisco can be rebuilt, larger, better, and soon.”

The city did rise again – and with earthquake and fire safety in mind. By 1915, San Francisco showed the fruits of its efforts when it hosted the Panama-pacific International Exposition.

But despite this, the disaster had long-term effects. At the time of the quake San Francisco was the largest city of the West Coast and the financial and trade capital of the seaboard.

The disaster diverted much of this industry to Los Angeles, which stole the crown as the most important western urban area.

Question: On this day in 1912, a ship arrived in New York carrying 705 survivors from the Titanic. What was her name?

Last week I asked: Which dictator was deposed on April 11, 1979? IDI AMIN