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Using biblical chronology, Archbishop James Ussher of Ireland calculates that the creation of Heaven and Earth took place in 4004 B.C.
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New instruments of magnification, including elegantly crafted microscopes, are fueling scientific research. The ancient question of whether life can arise from non-living matter is in the eye.
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Attempts to classify all life on Earth. He publishes the first edition of Systema Naturae while in his late twenties, and continues refining the details throughout his life.
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Comte de Buffon proposes radical ideas.
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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.
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French naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck proposes that living things evolve to become more complex through time.
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Cuvier sees catastrophes in fossil record.
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Lyell describes immense age of Earth.
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Beagle voyage transforms Darwin. 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.
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The unearthing of a fossil skull in Germany's Neander Valley fuels a debate over whether all humans are the direct descendants of Adam and Eve
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Wallace provokes Darwin to publish.
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Darwin's book explain the origin of species.
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Darwin's foes protest ape-man connection. While On the Origin of Species does not address human evolution.
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Evolution accepted. Some prominent scientists continue to reject the idea of evolution, but only a few years after On the Origin of Species is published, evolution is mainstream science.
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Darwin explores The Descent of Man. Unlike in On the Origin of Species, Darwin now unabashedly takes on human evolution.
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Horse fossils reveal a story of evolution.
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Darwin body laid to rest in peace.
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Radioactivity points to an ancient Earth. The discovery of radioactivity by physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel leads to stunning calculations of Earth's age.
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Both critics and proponents of evolution eagerly await the discovery of a "missing link" between humans and other primates.
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Six southern and border states consider anti-evolution proposal, two measures pass.
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Raymond Dart announces that a prehistoric "man-like ape" has been found in a limestone quarry at Taungs, South Africa.
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Biology textbooks censored. Fearing loss of sales in the South and West, 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.
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Tennessee bans for teaching human evolution.
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Neo-Darwinism adds new facts to Darwin's theory.
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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 bans religion in public schools.
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In his paper on human origins, Humani gereris, Pope Pius XII considers evolution as a serious hypothesis worthy of in-depth study.
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With electric currents to act as lightning and a soup of inorganic chemicals to simulate the conditions of ancient Earth.
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DNA puzzle solved.
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A new view of humans and apes. Breakthroughs in genetic science allow researchers to see striking similarities in the DNA blueprints for humans and apes.
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Supreme Court strikes law against evolution.
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DNA codes offer new evidence of evolution.
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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."
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John Paul II's papal letter proclaims there is no essential conflict between evolutionary science and the world's largest Christian faith.
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Twelve states shun the word "evolution," and four avoid topics in evolution completely.
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With the first draft of the sequence of the human genome complete, scientists see more than ever before how intimately related the human species is to other life on Earth.
