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2009: Day 177

Ye olde amber alert! On this day in 1284 the Pied Piper of legend led 130 children out of Hamelin, Germany. The piper must be paid!

On this date in 1870 Christmas became a federal holiday in the United States.

Score one for occidentals vs. inscrutability -- American writer Pearl S. Buck was born on this date in 1892.

Peter Lorre (1904) would have turned 105 today.

Do you belong to a credit union? FDR signed them into law on this date back in 1934.

Shirly Jackson's The Lottery appeared for the first time on this date, published in The New Yorker, followed by a summer of mostly hate mail from readers.

Comics writer and editor Tom DeFalco turns 59 today!

Canadian actor/comedian Mark McKinney - mainly known for being one of The Kids in the Hall - turns 50 today.

Three-time Tour de France cyclist Greg LeMond (1961) turns 48 today.

This day in 1963, John F. Kennedy unwittingly declared himself to be a donut to a crowd of Germans. (Okay, okay, it's a joke.)

Actor Chris O'Donnell (1970) turns 39 today.

Quarterback and would-be animal lover Michael Vick turns a mere 29 today.

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