BORN ON THIS DAY

JOHN GLENN (1921-2016), right. The astronaut was the first American to circle the Earth, in 1962. A decade later, he was elected as a U.S. senator and was once considered as a running mate for Jimmy Carter, but the Democratic presidential candidate described Glenn as ‘the most boring man I ever met’.

HUNTER S. THOMPSON (1937-2005). The American inventor of ‘gonzo’ journalism — a style that puts the reporter at the heart of the story. Chronically depressed and physically ailing, he shot himself in the head. Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in a 1998 film, spent $3million firing his ashes from a cannon, saying: ‘I just want to send my pal out the way he wants to go out.’