¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Darwin!

On a recent trip to the El Bolillo Bakery in Houston I snapped a random picture of birthday cakes stacked high on a rolling cart.

Later that day when I downloaded the pictures to my laptop, I
noticed the salutation on one of the cakes — “Feliz cumpleaños Darwin.”

Darwin? You don’t hear about many Hispanic Americans named Darwin.

Then I remembered (thanks National Geographic!). February 12, 2009
is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birthday (yes that Charles
Darwin, The Origin of Species dude).

What could this cake be for? The Natural History Museum? The biology
department of a local university? A cheeky contribution to a church
bake sale? Why is it in Spanish? Did Darwin like cake?

A mystery for the ages.

So happy 200th birthday Carlos. And more importantly, thanks for
coming up with one of the greatest scientific achievements in human
history and coincidentally chapping the asses of religious
fundamentalists for over 150 years.