Texas State Representative Don McLeroy (R-College Station) narrowly lost his bid on May 28 to retain his position as chairman of the State Board of Education. The 19-11 vote, which ran strictly along party lines, failed the two-thirds majority required for the nomination to pass.

Charles Darwin attempted to explain the origin of living organisms in On the Origin of Species, published in 1859.

Scientists and media outlets around the world are praising "Ida," the primate fossil hailed as the long-sought-after "missing link" in the human evolutionary theory.

A lawsuit brought by Chris Comer, former director of science at the Texas Education Agency, against the TEA and its commissioner, Robert Scott, was dismissed by a federal judge on March 31, 2009.