Feb 12 is quite an auspicious day.

200 years ago today, Charles Darwin was born, setting in motion the acceptance of natural selection and evolution as basic tenets of our shared ancestry. That some survive based on innate characteristics (i.e. genetics) forever changed scientific thinking and spawned great debate about the validity of the Judeo-Christian Creation Story.

200 years ago today, Abraham Lincoln was born, setting in motion a course of freedom for those whose “genetics” were used against them to hold them prisoner in what Lincoln believed should be a free world.

100 years ago today, the NAACP was formed (purposefully on Lincoln’s centennial) to bring awareness of the inequalities of race (i.e. genetics) to the fore of our thinking, and create opportunity for advancement for all.

Can you imagine our country — our world — without these three tremendous forces?