Evolution Day

{{Short description|Anniversary of publication of On the Origin of Species, 24 November}}

{{Infobox holiday

|holiday_name = Evolution Day

|type = historical

|image = Origin of Species title page.jpg

|caption = The title page of the first (1859) edition of
On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

|observedby = Humanists and others

|significance = The anniversary of the initial publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, which introduced the concepts of evolution and natural selection to the public.

|date = 24 November

|scheduling = same day each year

|duration = 1 day

|frequency = annual

|relatedto = Darwin Day

}}

Evolution Day is a celebration to commemorate the anniversary of the initial publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin on 24 November 1859.{{cite web |url=http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=100322 |title=Make a special date for assembly - 1997 |date=6 December 1996 |website=TES |access-date=28 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209001039/https://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=100322 |archive-date=9 December 2014 |url-status=dead }} "Schools trying to link religious, moral and spiritual education into the wider framework of group assemblies will find here a calendar listing the main religious festivals of the six main faiths, the United Nation's designated days of concern, profile-raising days of the main British charities, anniversaries of major figures whose lives embodied important values and days of special interest to those dealing with children [… November] 24 Evolution Day (Humanist - publication of Origin of Species)"{{cite web |url=http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=82274 |title=Dates to remember in 1999 |date=1 January 1999 |website=TES (magazine) |access-date=28 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208232416/https://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=82274 |archive-date=8 December 2014 |url-status=dead }} "Evolution Day: anniversary of publication of "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin (1859)"{{cite web |url=http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2011/11/24/evolution-day/ |title=Evolution Day |author=Elizabeth Bal |date=24 November 2011 |website=BioMed Central |access-date=28 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205160439/http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2011/11/24/evolution-day/ |archive-date=5 December 2014 |url-status=dead }}

{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/3602107/darwin-evolution-day/ |title=On Evolution Day, Remember That Darwin Knew He'd Meet Resistance |author=Jeffrey Kluger |date=24 November 2014 |magazine=Time |access-date=28 November 2014}}

Such celebrations have been held for over a century, but the specific term "Evolution Day" for the anniversary appears to be a neologism which was coined prior to 1997. By highlighting Darwin's contributions to science, the day's events are used to educate about evolutionary biology.{{cite web |url=https://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6138989 |title=Next week at school - 21-27 November 2011 |date=18 November 2011 |website=TES (magazine) |access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205014108/https://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6138989 |archive-date=5 December 2014 |url-status=dead }} "THURSDAY [24 November 2011] Evolution Day (1859) Charles Darwin published his controversial book On the Origin of the Species, which has been fiercely debated since. Teach seven and eight- year-olds about Darwin with a resource from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew." It is similar to the better-known Darwin Day, held on the anniversary of his birth (12 February 1809).{{cite web |url=http://www.wissenrockt.de/2011/02/13/darwin-tag-kult-oder-kultur-16466/ |title=Darwin-Tag: Kult oder Kultur? |author=Arik Platzek |date=13 February 2011 |website=wissenrockt.de (Das Magazin für junge Humanistinnen und Humanisten) |access-date=1 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210093045/http://www.wissenrockt.de/2011/02/13/darwin-tag-kult-oder-kultur-16466/ |archive-date=10 December 2014 |url-status=dead }} Compared to Darwin Day, "der „Evolution Day“ am 24. November fand bisher nicht solche Aufmerksamkeit." It is unrelated to the secularization campaign by the Giordano Bruno Foundation to have the German public holiday of Ascension Day renamed to "Evolutionstag" (Evolution Day).{{cite web |url=http://blogs.nature.com/news/2009/02/songs_about_science_xv_you_can.html |title=Songs about Science XV: You can't fool the children of evolution |author=Daniel Cressey |date=27 February 2009 |publisher=Nature |access-date=1 December 2014}}