If so, say hello. I'm turning 57 today. That makes me one year to the day younger than Thomas L. Friedman, with whom I also share a first name and last two initials (but mine are F. L. instead of L. F.).
Given the size of our community and the number of days in a year, there must be a fair number of birthday people likely to stumble upon this. We can use this diary as a virtual, mutual birthday party.
Other prominent people born on July 20th:
- Sen. Barbara Mikulski
- Dame Diana Rigg
- Sir Edmund Hillary
- Alexander the Great
- Carlos Santana
Please add any more you know of in the comments.
This Day in History
The most prominent event I know of on this date occurred during my lifetime: the first moon walk in 1969, conveniently scheduled for Sunday evening prime time television.
And of course, there was the famous attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944.
What else?
People you have known with this Birthday
I have over the years known several people with the same birthday. The most unusual happened in the fall of '84. I had just moved to Frankfurt Germany. I was talking to this guy in a bar and out of the blue he asked me, "What's your birthday?" I said, "July 20, 1954." He said, "Mine too." I couldn't believe this but he immediately produced his passport and there was no doubt about it. We became kind of friends. He died of AIDS several years later.
On my 40th birthday when I arrived at the office in the morning, I could see from across the floor a cubicle decorated with black helium balloons and other regalia. And it wasn't my cubicle! Turns out that one of my colleagues was turning 50 the same day I turned 40. Happy 67th Birthday, Ed!
Other shared birthday stories invited below.