ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1452 Girolamo Savonarola, Italian political reformer and monk (hanged as a heretic); 1722 John Home, Leith-born dramatist; 1756 John Mcadam, Ayr-born surveyor who introduced “macadam” road-surfacing; 1866 HG Wells, novelist; 1874 Gustav Holst, composer; 1921 Sir Jimmy Young CBE, radio presenter; 1934 Leonard Cohen, poet, singer-songwriter. Deaths: 19BC Virgil, Roman poet; 1832 Sir Walter Scott, novelist and poet; 1936 Frank Hornby, toy manufacturer; 1974 Walter Brennan, three-time Oscarwinning actor; 1974 Jacqueline Susann, novelist; 1996 Dorothy Lamour, actress and singer.