DARWIN & LINCOLN

Although the fact has very little to do with archaeology, that is our usual subject, everyone should know that strangely enough, Darwin and Lincoln were born on the same day: February 12, 1809.

See the excellent article "from the editor" in February's issue of The Smithsonian Magazine. Its called Evolution and Equality: What do Darwin and Lincoln and the Freedom Riders have in Common? Monmaney, the author, says "Despite all the hullabaloo leading up to their shared bicentennial, it still seems incredible that Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, two of the most important and most admirable people of the 19th century, whose deep contributions to their time continue to be felt in ours, were born on the same day."