May 9 – On this day: 77 years since the End of World War II in Europe
77 YEARS AGO (1945) our front page showed the crowds packing London's Whitehall on the 'nation's great day of rejoicing', as the country celebrated Victory in Europe day.
More than a million people had gathered in the capital after Churchill declared May 8 a public holiday to celebrate the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany's last remaining leaders. We said, "The victory spirit was in everybody's blood".
62 years ago (1960) The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
The combined oestrogen and progestogen pill sparked the sexual revolution of the 1960s and continues to be used by more than 100 million women worldwide.
23 years ago (1999) Anti-Western protests were held in major cities around China after Nato bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade killing three during the Kosovo War.
The US insisted the bombing was a mistake. Nato carried out an 11-week bombing campaign against Yugoslav dictator Slobodan Milosevic prompted by the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians.