On this day ...

DECEMBER 27

1831: Admiralty survey ship HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, set out from Plymouth on a scientific voyage around the world, which led to Darwin writing his controversial Origin Of Species.

1901: Marlene Dietrich, pictured above, the German actress who starred in The Blue Angel, was born.

1904: The first performance of James Barrie’s Peter Pan took place at the Duke of York’s theatre in London.

1927: Broadway staged the first performance of Show Boat by Jerome Kern, at the Ziegfeld Theatre.

1945: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established in Washington.

1965: The Sea Gem oil rig collapsed in the North Sea – 13 died.

1978: Spain became a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.

1985: Arab terrorists killed 12 people in attacks on El-Al check-in desks at Rome and Vienna airports.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: British wind farms generated more electricity than coal plants on more than 75 per cent of days during 2017, figures revealed. BIRTHDAYS: Christopher Benjamin, actor, 84; Janet Street-Porter, above, broadcaster, 72; Gerard Depardieu, actor, 70; Duncan Ferguson, former footballer, 47; David Knopfler, musician, 66; Gilles Simon, French tennis player, 34; Salman Khan, Bollywood actor, 53; David Dunn, footballer, 39.