Come experience the wild world of evolution through our annual celebration of the life and ideas of Charles Darwin.
February 12th - 15th
Darwin Day is an annual, international commemoration of the birthday and ideas of Charles Darwin, a British naturalist born February 12, 1809, and author of the seminal book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
The first organized Darwin Day events took place in 1995, and were organized by the Humanist Community of Palo Alto, California. The years since have seen Darwin Day celebrations around the world increasing annually at a steady rate.
In 2006, the Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth, in collaboration with Cornell University and Ithaca College, celebrated the first official Darwin Days in Ithaca, New York, with a five-day series of panel discussions, film screenings, speakers, and workshops, aimed at increasing awareness of Darwin’s theory and its relevance today, in the Ithaca community and beyond.
Join us this year from February 12- 15 to celebrate the work of Charles Darwin and the study of evolution. We will explore hominid evolution with John Gurche, recognize World Whale Day, and consider perspectives on education since Darwin's day.
Most programs for this event this year are offered free of charge, but please consider contributing to our educational programs so that we can continue to offer resources and information to our community.
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Darwin Day is the brain child of the late Bob Stephens, former head of the cell biology lab at SRI International, a philanthropist funder of a school in Africa, an early major donor to the public science education organization called Wonderfest, and also a supporter and generous funder of atheist/humanist groups in the U.S. Stephens was also the former mayor of Menlo Park.
At one point Stephens hired someone to organize and promote Darwin Day full time. Global celebrations happened, typically on university campuses.
A worthy aspiration would for the U.S. to officially celebrate Darwin Day in the public schools as a national education event. However, with the political ascendance of anti-intellectual white Christian nationalism, it's hard to imagine this event taking root anytime soon.
