On Nov. 24, 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species,” which explained his theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

On this date:

In 1865, Mississippi became the first Southern state to enact laws that came to be known as “Black Codes” aimed at limiting the rights of newly freed Blacks; other states of the former Confederacy soon followed.

In 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, in a scene captured on live television.

In 1974, the bone fragments of a 3.2 million-year-old hominid were discovered by scientists in Ethiopia; the skeletal remains were nicknamed “Lucy.”

In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed on terms to scrap shorter- and medium-range missiles. (The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev the following month.)

In 1991, rock singer Freddie Mercury died in London at age 45 of AIDS-related pneumonia.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped into the bitter, overtime struggle for the White House, agreeing to consider George W. Bush’s appeal against the hand recounting of ballots in Florida.

In 2014, it was announced that a grand jury in St. Louis County, Missouri, had decided against indicting Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown; the decision enraged protesters, who set fire to buildings and cars and looted businesses in the area where Brown had been fatally shot.

Today’s Birthdays: Country singer Johnny Carver is 80. Rock drummer Pete Best is 79. Rock musician Clem Burke (Blondie; The Romantics) is 66. Rock musician John Squire (The Stone Roses) is 58. Actor Lola Glaudini is 49. Actor Colin Hanks is 43. Actor Katherine Heigl is 42.