Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809. Darwin’s “Origin of Species” was published in 1859. This February 12th will be the 200 year anniversary of his birth, and 2009 will be the 150 year anniversary of the publication of the “Origin of Species”. There are a number of celebrations, lectures, etc., planned to honor Darwin. Check out this web link for more information http://www.darwinday.org/index.html , or at least knock the dust of your copy of the “Origin of Species” or the “Voyage of the Beagle”.
When celebrating the monumental contributions of Darwin to biology, it would also be beneficial to revisit the contribution of Alfred Russel Wallace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace