Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Darwin
Today is the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. This used to be a holiday in the US, along with Washington’s BD on February 22. Somehow, the two got combined into President’s Day.
It is unlikely that the two met, or knew much about the other. “On the origin of species” was published in 1859, as the United States teetered on the brink of catastrophe. There is a certain “Darwinism” in the way the unpleasantness of the eighteen sixties went down. The northeast quadrant of the United States gained dominance over a large chunk of North America, at a horrible cost. The concept that a human being could literally own another human being was banished from the Union.
There are two other anniversaries of note today. On February 12, 1733, James Oglethorpe landed a boatload of debtors on the future site of Savannah. This was the start of the Colony/State of Georgia.
There is another that continues the symmetry of Darwin/Lincoln, and was exactly 100 years later. On February 12, 1909, the NAACP was founded.
Chamblee54 
http://familyforest.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/happy-birthday-darwin-and-lincoln/
Surely he would have been in awe to learn that it is has become possible to start with President Obama’s children, or Tom Hank’s children, and travel through their own generation-by-generation family ties to reach him and his family, plus
President Lincoln’s family, and to relate them personally to so many thousands of the most famous people, places, and events in human history.
[…] Gothic”) went to that village in the sky. He left the pitchfork behind. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of […]
[…] Gothic”) went to that village in the sky. He left the pitchfork behind. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of […]
[…] Gothic”) went to that village in the sky. He left the pitchfork behind. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of […]