NOVEMBER 24th

On this date in:
1784	Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, was born in Orange County, Va.
1859	British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.
1871	The National Rifle Association was incorporated.
1925	Conservative author and editor William F. Buckley Jr. was born in New York.
1947	A group of writers, producers and directors that became known as the "Hollywood 10" was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about alleged Communist influence in the movie industry.
1950	The musical "Guys and Dolls," based on the writings of Damon Runyon and featuring songs by Frank Loesser, opened on Broadway.
1969	Apollo 12 returned to Earth after the second manned mission to the moon.
1971	Hijacker D.B. Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom. His fate remains unknown.
1985	The hijacking of an Egyptair jetliner parked on the ground in Malta ended with 60 deaths when Egyptian commandos stormed the plane; two of the dead were shot by the hijackers.
1987	The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to scrap shorter- and medium-range missiles in the first superpower treaty to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons.
1989	Czechoslovakia's hard-line party leadership resigned after more than a week of protests against its policies.
1991	Rock singer Freddie Mercury of Queen died at age 45 of pneumonia brought on by AIDS.
1992	Former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger pleaded innocent to making a false statement in the Iran-Contra affair.
1998	America Online confirmed it was buying Netscape Communications in a deal ultimately worth $10 billion.
2000	The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider George W. Bush's appeal against the hand recounting of presidential ballots in Florida.
2003	A jury in Virginia Beach, Va., sentenced John Allen Muhammad to death for the Washington-area sniper shootings.

Article of the day

Origin of Species is published

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, is published in England. Darwin's theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called "natural selection." In natural selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variation, thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species.

Darwin, who was influenced by the work of French naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and the English economist Thomas Mathus, acquired most of the evidence for his theory during a five-year surveying expedition aboard the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. Visiting such diverse places as the Galapagos Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information, along with his studies in variation and interbreeding after returning to England, proved invaluable in the development of his theory of organic evolution.

The idea of organic evolution was not new. It had been suggested earlier by, among others, Darwin's grandfather Erasmus Darwin, a distinguished English scientist, and Lamarck, who in the early 19th century drew the first evolutionary diagram--a ladder leading from one-celled organisms to man. However, it was not until Darwin that science presented a practical explanation for the phenomenon of evolution.

Darwin had formulated his theory of natural selection by 1844, but he was wary to reveal his thesis to the public because it so obviously contradicted the biblical account of creation. In 1858, with Darwin still remaining silent about his findings, the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace independently published a paper that essentially summarized his theory. Darwin and Wallace gave a joint lecture on evolution before the Linnean Society of London in July 1858, and Darwin prepared On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection for publication.

Published on November 24, 1859, Origin of Species sold out immediately. Most scientists quickly embraced the theory that solved so many puzzles of biological science, but orthodox Christians condemned the work as heresy. Controversy over Darwin's ideas deepened with the publication of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), in which he presented evidence of man's evolution from apes.

By the time of Darwin's death in 1882, his theory of evolution was generally accepted. In honor of his scientific work, he was buried in Westminster Abbey beside kings, queens, and other illustrious figures from British history. Subsequent developments in genetics and molecular biology led to modifications in accepted evolutionary theory, but Darwin's ideas remain central to the field.

Today Birthdays

Katherine Heigl turns 30 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris Weeks Actress Katherine Heigl ("Grey's Anatomy") turns 30 years old today.

73 Ron Dellums Former U.S. Rep., D-Calif. 70 Oscar Robertson Bsaketball Hall of Famer 68 Johnny Carver Country singer 67 Pete Best Rock musician 67 Donald "Duck" Dunn Rock musician (Booker T. and the MG's) 66 Billy Connolly Actor, comedian 66 Marlin Fitzwater Former White House press secretary 64 Dan Glickman President of the Motion Picture Association of America 63 Lee Michaels Rock singer 61 Dwight Schultz Actor 58 Stanley Livingston Actor ("My Three Sons") 53 Clem Burke Rock musician (Blondie) 52 Terry Lewis Record producer 52 Ruben Santiago-Hudson Actor 51 Denise Crosby Actress 46 Shae D'Lyn Actress 46 John Squire Rock musician (The Stone Roses) 46 Gary Stonadge Rock musician (Big Audio) 44 Garret Dillahunt Actor 38 Chad Taylor Rock musician (Live) 37 Lola Glaudini Actress 31 Colin Hanks Actor