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Bishop Ussher
James Ussher an Archbishop from Ireland, claculates Earth and Heaven where created on 4004 B.C. -
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Evolution Revolution
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Spontaneous Generation
Francesco Redi shows why maggots often crop up in putrefield meat. -
Linnaeus
Carl von Linne attempts to clasify all life on earth. His system is divided into Kingdoms, classes, orders, genra ans species. -
Comte de Buffon
Comte de Buffon says that creatures evolve acording to natural laws and that all life has descended from a same ancestor. -
Natural Theology
Archdeacon William Paley's Natural Theology holds that not only God's existence but also his attributes are manifest in the intricate forms of nature. -
Lamark
Lemarck says that thing evolve trough time for becoming more complex. -
Cuvier
French naturalist Georges Cuvier attempts to explain catastrophes in fossil record. He argues that a series of catastrophes, great floods and earthquakes wiped out a certain life in the distant past. He argues that modern creatures are far too complex for to have evolved naturally. -
Lyell
Charles Lyell furthers the idea that says that the history of earth, and life of it, spans vast ages, by arguing the slow-moving, gradual process explain Earth's geology. -
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Beagle Voyage
The voyage of the HMS Beagle which carries Charles Darwin to tropical forests, Andean peaks, and the Galapagos Islands is the most important experience of his life as a scientist. When Darwin begins his voyage around the world, he intends to spend his life in the clergy. But five years later, at the end of what was to be a two-year trip, he is a changed man. He is now committed to a life. -
Neanderthal
There was a fossil skull on Germany's Neader Valley that looked modern-like-human that made people debate on whether the skull directly descended from Adan and Eva. -
Wallace
Wallace provokes Darwin to publish. Alfred Russel Wallace, a young British explorer, writes Darwin from Malaysia, seeking the older naturalist's advice. Wallace has a theory of how species might evolve. Wallace has struck upon the theory of natural selection that Darwin has been researching for 20 years. -
Origin of Species
Darwin's book "the Origin of Species" is the most influential. It proposes a coherent theory of evolution. Species on the wild evolve by "natural selection" while domestic species evolve by "artificial selection". -
Ape Debate
Darwin's foes protest ape-man connection. While On the Origin of Species does not address human evolution, critics assume that Darwin thinks humans are no exception. Thomas Henry tries to rally to the defence. -
Evolution Accepted
While some scientists continued to reject the idea of evolution, evolution is mainstream science only few years after the Origin of Species was published. Many media like magazines, newspapers as well as religeous publications promote evolution. -
Descent of Man
Darwin explores The Descent of Man. Unlike in On the Origin of Species, Darwin now unabashedly takes on human evolution. His new book also stresses the importance of "sexual selection" in driving the evolution of life. -
Horse Fossils
Thomas Huxley journeys to the U.S. to give public lectures. Looking for a way to capture the people's imagination, he visits Othniel Charles March at Yale, which had recently discovered fossila of ancient horses. They both piece together the fossils and predict that a more ancient five-toed animal likely existed. -
Darwin's Burial
Darwin was buried in Westminster Abbey. Darwin's body is laid to rest in a place of honor, near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton. His burial -- in the most prominent abbey in England -- is attended by Britain's leading politicians, scientists, and clergy. -
Radioactivity
Radioactivity points to ancient Earth. Antonie Henri Becquerel lead to stunning calculations of Earth's age when he discovered radioactivity. -
Piltdown Man
Cristics and proponents of evolution eagerly await the discovery of a "missing link" between humans and other primates. The Piltdown Man seems to be this link. -
First Anti-Evolution Bills
First anti-evolution bills passed. Spurred by William Jennings Bryan and a growing grassroots movement, six Southern and border states consider anti-evolution proposals. -
Man-like Ape
Raymond Dart announces that a prehistoric "man-like ape" has been found in a limestone quarry at Taungs, South Africa. -
Textbook Censored
Publishers remove references to evolution from biology textbooks. -
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Anti-Evolution Bills Spread
In the years following the Scopes trial, some 35 new anti-evolution bills are proposed in 20 states, and three states pass laws. -
Neo Darwinism
Neo-Darwinism adds new facts to Darwin's theory. Scientists now understand that random genetic mutations can cause changes in the traits of organisms, and that such inherited changes are then spread throughout a population by the mechanism Darwin called natural selection. -
Evolution Shunned
Evolution shunned in U.S. schools. With textbooks effectively censored by commercial concerns and many anti-evolutionist rulings and regulations in place, the teaching of evolution hits a low point. -
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Supreme Court on Religion
Supreme Court rules that neither a state nor the federal government "can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another." -
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII sees way to accept evolution. Pope Pius XII considers evolution as a serious hypothesis worthy of in-depth study.He leads the way for Catholics to accept even human evolution by stressing a distinction between body and soul: "If the human body takes its origin from pre-existent living matter, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God." -
Origins of Life
With electric currents to act as lightning and a soup of inorganic chemicals to simulate the conditions of ancient Earth, a young graduate student named Stanley Miller produces amino acids. -
DNA
It takes the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA to unlock the details of what genes are and how they work. It is a boon to evolutionary science. -
Humanand Apes
Breakthroughs in genetic science allow researchers to see striking similarities in the DNA blueprints for humans and apes. Vincent Sarich and Allen Wilson find evidence that humans are more closely related to African apes than African apes are to orangutans. -
Supreme Court on Evolution
Supreme Court strikes law against evolution. This effectively puts an end to laws barring the teaching of evolution in public schools. -
DNA Codes
DNA codes offer new evidence of evolution. new technology now makes DNA sequencing relatively easy and inexpensive, which leads to an explosion of research. Evolutionary scientists now see, at a molecular level, how the DNA of various organisms has changed through time as these organisms have evolved. -
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Textbook Disclaimer
The school board of Tangipahoa Parish, La., passes a requirement that whenever evolution is taught, students must be informed that the material is "not intended to influence or dissuade the Biblical version of creation." All biology texts must note that evolution is "controversial" and "a theory, not a fact." -
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II endorses evolution. John Paul II's papal letter proclaims there is no essential conflict between evolutionary science and the world's largest Christian faith. -
Science Standards
Twelve states shun the word "evolution," and four avoid topics in evolution completely. -
Human Genome
Human genome reveals human evolution. Humans not only share more than 98 percent of their genes with chimpanzees, they even have genes in common with fruit flies and yeast. The field of genomics gives scientists new tools for understanding how humans, along with all living organisms, have evolved over billions of years.