ON THIS DAY

1822: Louis Pasteur, chemist and bacteriologist, was born in Dole, France. 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, 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. BIRTHDAYS: Christopher Benjamin, actor, 82; Janet Street-Porter, broadcaster, 70; Gerard Depardieu, actor, 68; Duncan Ferguson, former footballer, 45; David Knopfler, musician, 64; Gilles Simon, French tennis player, 32; Salman Khan, Bollywood actor, 51; David Dunn, footballer, 37. QUOTES OF THE DAY: “We are entering a new era and, as the President-elect Trump said, this is going to happen much quicker than people think. In this new era there is a high price for those trying to harm Israel” - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, accusing the United Nations of “a shameful ambush” on Israel over West Bank settlements. “It is a bit like being pushed into a massive vat of water when you can’t swim” - Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat victor of the Richmond Park by-election, describing her first experience of Parliament. “Theresa May is the biggest fashion asset to Britain since the first years of the Queen’s reign” - Veteran broadcaster Clive James. “I don’t want to die in a dress” - Christopher Biggins,who has retired as a pantomime dame after decades of playing the role. “After 20 years, and it sounds sort of nutty, but I’ve got the closest I have to perfection of a roast potato” - TV chef Jamie Oliver. “Really, panto is such hard work with two performances a day, and at my time of life it is probably a suicide mission” - Actress Maureen Lipman, 70. “I’m concerned that with all the technical know-how they have now, with computers and screens of all sizes, that people will stop going out to sit in an empty room with strangers and watch something hopefully magical” - Actor Liam Neeson.