There's some kind of freaky cosmic coincidence going on here. It seems like everywhere I look these days, another famous person is having a bicentennial -- either of birth or death. I keep thinking, "I have to make a note of this and make sure it gets a mention on the blog."

So how about this: I'll lump all the ones I've found so far into one post, and then work on collecting articles about them to share with you. First, the biggies:

• Abraham Lincoln: February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865.
• Charles Darwin: February 12, 1809 - April 19, 1882.

Yes, they were born on the same day. You can bet that hay is going to be made out of that one. In fact, it already is (as in this Christopher Hitchens piece that made the Daily Roundup last week).

And here are a few that you may not have heard about:

• Edgar Allan Poe: January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849.
• Felix Mendelssohn: February 3, 1809 - November 4, 1847.
• Franz Joseph Haydn: March 31, 1732 - May 31, 1809.
• Thomas Paine: January 29, 1737 - June 8, 1809.
• Alfred Lord Tennyson: August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892.

Big year, 1809. Anyone have any that I've missed?

Comments

[LeeQuod]

Louis Braille, b. 4-Jan-1809, invented reading system for blind people
William Gladstone, b. 29-Dec-1809, Four times UK Prime Minister
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., b. 29-Aug-1809, writer and father of Supreme Court Justice ("Junior")

Gina wrote: "freaky cosmic coincidence".

Wow, you're really willing to play with fire - specifically, the fire predestinationists keep burning for heretics, hm? ;-) , sorta

[Gina Dalfonzo]

I thought I smelled something burning . . . :-)