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2009: Day 201

This date in 356 BC is an accepted birth date for Alexander the Great.

Though he'd be named "father of genetics" long after his death, Gregor Mendel was born today in 1922. He never got to see his studies of pea pods and inherited traits receive proper recognition.

George Llewelyn Davies, the inspiration for the characters Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, was born today in 1893. He was killed in 1915, at the age of 21, one of the many, many casualties of World War I. Stupid Flanders.

Sir Edmund Hillary, who along with Sherpa mountaineer Tenzig Norgay, became one of the first climbers to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

Actress Natalie Wood (1938) would have turned 71 today, but she drowned in 1981. (A joke from that era: What did Grace Kelly have that Natalie Wood could have used? A good stroke.) On the same day Diana Rigg, who I'll always think of first as Mrs. Peel, was born over in Doncaster, England.

Bass guitarist and singer with the Moody Blues - John Lodge - turns 66 today.

Today in 1944 Franklin Delano Roosevelt wins the Democratic nomination for the fourth and final time. At the same time, a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler - the 20 July plot - fails. In the aftermath, the Gestapo arrested an estimated 7000 people and subsequently 4,980 people were executed.

Former senator Larry "I am not gay" Craig hits his 64th birthday today.

Musician/guitarist Carlos Santana celebrates his 62nd birthday today.

In response to increasing tensions with the Soviet Union, President Harry S. Truman initiated a peacetime draft on this date in 1948.

Paul Cook, drummer for the Sex Pistols, turns 53 today.

The late pitchman Billy Mays would have turned 51 today.

Whether one knows him from HBO's Oz, FX's Rescue Me or NBC's 30 Rock, it's actor Dean Winters' 45th birthday today.

Of course, today in 1969, Apollo 11 lands the first human beings on the Moon. Also, fans of ABC's Lost may want to note that Josh Holloway -- Sawyer -- turns 40 today. (Augh. This reminds me that we have to wait until 2010 before we see any new episodes.)

In 1976 the Viking 1 successfully lands on Mars. On the same day the final U.S. military withdrawal from Thailand takes place, and Hank Aaron hit the final home run of his career - his 755th.

In 1977 the Freedom of Information Act leads to the release of documents indicating the CIA had engaged in mind control experiments.

Fans of Bones and Freaks and Geeks may recognize actor John Francis Daley, who turns 24 today.

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