Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Darwin

In our never-ending quest to bring you news of anything even remotely related to monkeys, The Burning Taper invites you to participate in Charles Darwin's 200th Birthday Celebration.

Nearly 34,000 Facebook users have already joined the Facebook group "Happy Birthday Charles Darwin." The group is shooting for 200,000 members by Feb. 12, Darwin's birthday.

For more information, to join, or to submit movies of your favorite monkeys singing "Happy Birthday" to Chuck, check out the Happy Birthday Charles Darwin website, or go directly to the group's Facebook site.

I've found no evidence that Charles Darwin was a Freemason, but based on both "legitimate" Masonic websites and conspiracy websites, we find that Chuck's grandfather, whom some conspiracists say passed on his evolutionary beliefs to Charles (nevermind the fact that grandpa had been dead seven years when Chuck was born), was in fact a Mason, as was at least one of his sons and grandsons. This passage reportedly from Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, as quoted in John Daniel's book Scarlet and the Beast Volume II, discusses the Darwin-Masonic connection:

Before coming to Derby in 1788, Dr. [Erasmus] Darwin had been made a Mason in the famous Time Immemorial Lodge of Cannongate Kilwinning, No. 2, of Scotland. Sir Francis Darwin, one of the Doctor's sons, was made a Mason in Tyrian Lodge, No. 253, at Derby, in 1807 or 1808. His son Reginald was made a Mason in Tyrian Lodge in 1804. The name of Charles Darwin does not appear on the rolls of the Lodge but it is very possible that he, like Francis, was a Mason.

Whether Charles Darwin was a Mason or not, The Burning Taper wishes him a happy 200th birthday.

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