On August 11 1892 Hugh MacDiarmid was born

On 11 August 1892 poet Christopher Murray Grieve was born in Langholm.

Grieve wrote under the pseudonym, Hugh MacDiarmid, and is considered the driving force behind Scottish Literary Renaissance which took shape during the 1920s. MacDiarmind viewed his mission as rescuing Scottish culture and modernising it to reflect 20th Century Scotland. He also tried to resurrect the Scots language as a vital part of maintaning an independent Scottish culture.

His masterpiece, A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle, reflects his abhorrence at the way Scottish culture had developed. MacDiarmid remained a man of contradictions throughout his life being both a founder of the Naional Party of Scotland and a member of the Communist Party - although he was thrown out of both parties, but his influence as an artist can still be felt in today's Scottish writing.  (BBC)

• 1960 – Chad declares independence from France.