October

As the original James Bond, Sean Connery may well have been the most famous Scottish actor of all time. After famously spending time in the Navy, then working as a milkman, he took a number of smaller roles before landing the lead in 1962’s Dr No. In total, he played James Bond in seven films, including 1983’s ‘unofficial’ Never Say Never Again. He was born in Fountainbridge and died at his home in the Bahamas in October 2020.

October was the month in which vet Alf White was born. Brought up and trained in Scotland, he eventually found fame after moving to the Yorkshire Dales. There, he wrote a series of books under the pseudonym James Herriot, which have since been adapted three times for film and television.

The now-ruined observatory at the top of Ben Nevis was established in October 1883, the first Open Golf Championship took place in October 1860, and the Skye Bridge opened for traffic in October 1995. The Ardnamurchan lighthouse was illuminated for the first time, and Dundee residents were wowed by an early demonstration of electric lighting.

Further from home, NASA took inspiration from the Scottish parish of Glenelg when choosing names for locations on Mars. The town is now twinned with its namesake on the red planet, which was visited not once, but twice by the Mars Rover as it scouted out landing sites and resources for future missions.