Evolution is a change in the genetic makeup of a population of
interbreeding individuals within a species. Since the emergence of
modern genetics in the 1940s, evolution has been defined more
specifically as a change in the frequency of alleles from one
generation to the next. The word "evolution" is often used as a
shorthand for the modern theory of evolution of species based upon
Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, which states that all
modern species are the products of an extensive process that began
over three billion years ago with simple single-celled organisms, and
Gregor Mendel's theory of genetics. As the theory of evolution by
natural selection and genetics has become universally accepted in the
scientific community, it has replaced other explanations including
creationism and Lamarckism. Skeptics, often creationists, sometimes
deride evolution as "just a theory" in an attempt to characterize it
as an arbitrary choice and degrade its claims to truth. Such criticism
overlooks the scientifically-accepted use of the word "theory" to mean
a falsifiable and well-supported hypothesis.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1229:
Sixth Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II declared himself King
of Jerusalem.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)
1438:
Albert II of Habsburg became King of the Romans in the Holy Roman
Empire.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_II_of_Germany)
1921:
The Polish-Bolshevik War, which determined the borders between the
Republic of Poland and Soviet Russia, formally concluded with the
signing of the Peace of Riga.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish-Soviet_War)
1922:
Mahatma Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison for civil
disobedience.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi)
1965:
Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov donned a spacesuit and ventured outside the
Voskhod 2 spacecraft to become the first person to walk in space.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_2)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"We take our bearings, daily, from others. To be sane is, to a great
extent, to be sociable." -- John Updike
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Updike)