title: In SQL Server 2008, what default date should I use if I don't want it to be null?
body: <p>I have columns that are of datetype, that I use for things like created, lastmodified etc.</p>
  
  <p>I don't want these columns to allow for nulls, is there a best practise in terms of what I should use for their unused, initialized state?</p>
  
  <p>e.g. should I use whatever value datetime.minvalue is?</p>