 Terry Irwin, 60 years old today, American War Naturalist author and television personality, who was the wife of Steve Irwin, the late crocodile hunter. Her wildlife conservation efforts earned her an honorary membership in the Order of Australia. Gregor Mendel, 1822 Augustinian friar and research scientist who became posthumously known as the founder of modern genetics. He demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, which is now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance.