ON THIS DAY

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 2, 1982

AT CLOSE-DOWN tonight, viewers will have sampled Channel 4, the first new TV network to be launched in Britain for 18 years. Most of the population are able to tune into the new channel. But how many viewers will bother to press that long dormant fourth button is an unknown factor.

NOVEMBER 2, 1987

An INTERNATIONAL anti-terrorist operation has stopped the IRA receiving a huge arms consignment from Colonel Gaddafi. A ship carrying five Irishmen and 200 tons of arms worth £3million was seized off Brittany on Friday in the biggest joint western operation of its kind.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

k.d. lang, 60. The Canadian singer-songwriter (born Kathryn Dawn) had hits with her song Constant Craving and Crying, a duet with roy orbison. Described as a ‘lesbian icon’, she was photographed for Vanity Fair with supermodel Cindy Crawford in a swimsuit giving her a wet shave. Asked by a male journalist what was going through her mind at the time, Lang replied: ‘Pretty much what would have been going through yours in the same circumstance, I imagine.’

DAVID SCHWIMMER, 55. The U.s. actor, who played slapstick-prone paleontologist ross Geller in sitcom Friends, dreamed of being a surgeon: ‘But I found I could talk to more girls in acting class than in the science lab, so that kind of derailed my medical career.’

BORN ON THIS DAY

MARIE ANTOINETTE (1755-1793). The Austrian archduchess was 14 when she became the bride of the future French King Louis XVI. The public had been so keen to see the teenager in her first French public appearance that 30 people were killed in the crush. During the French revolution, she became known as Madame Déficit as her lavish spending was blamed for causing the country’s financial crisis.

STEVE DITKO (1927-2018). The U.s. comic-book artist created Doctor strange and co-created spider-Man. Though stan Lee came up with the original idea for the character, Ditko designed his red-and-blue outfit and the web-shooters he wore on his wrists. A recluse dubbed ‘the JD salinger of comic books’, he refused to appear in the BBC film In search of steve Ditko, presented by Jonathan ross, who said he was ‘the single greatest comic book artist and creator who ever lived’.

ON NOVEMBER 2…

IN 1950, Irish playwright George Bernard shaw died, aged 94. IN 1953, the first samaritans phone call was answered by its founder, vicar Chad Varah.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: Pannikin (c1820) A) A small metal cup. B) Comb for curling whiskers. C) A bread roll. (Answer below) PHRASE EXPLAINED Bat on a sticky wicket: Meaning to take action in unfavourable conditions; originally a term for difficult circumstances for batsmen in cricket, caused by a damp pitch.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

You have to prioritise what you stress about when you have a child. Adele, English singer

JOKE OF THE DAY

My FRIEND’s fruit and veg business went into liquidation... She now sells smoothies.

Guess The Definition answer: A.