On Aug. 20, 1858, Darwin’s theory of evolution saw daylight for the first time. More than 165 years later, Sonoma County is still writing its own chapters of survival and extinction.
On Aug. 20, 1858, the Linnaean Society in London quietly published a joint paper by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. It was the first time the theory of evolution by natural selection appeared in print — a scientific spark that still lights arguments, jokes, and the occasional Darwin Award.
But you don’t have to look to London to celebrate the date. Sonoma County has its own eccentric record of evolution in action, from mammoths that once scratched themselves on seaside rocks to microbes that thrive in water so alkaline it could strip paint. Darwin would have found plenty here to scribble about — probably with a glass of pinot noir close at hand…