Short answers, pulled from the story.
Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace announced natural selection to the Linnean Society of London in the year 1858. This joint presentation marked the first public declaration of their independent discovery that nature acts as a selective force shaping life without divine guidance.
Thomas Robert Malthus published An Essay on the Principle of Population in the year 1798. Charles Darwin read this work in 1838 and realized that population growth outstripping resources creates a struggle for existence that drives natural selection.
Gregor Mendel's work was rediscovered in the year 1900 to explain the mechanism of heredity in natural selection. This rediscovery allowed the early 20th century to develop the modern synthesis by uniting Darwinian evolution with classical genetics.
The peppered moth population in Manchester turned dark in just fifty years following the Industrial Revolution. The Clean Air Act of 1956 reversed this trend, making the dark moths rare again and demonstrating the speed of natural selection.
The gene in the butterfly Hypolimnas bolina suppressing male-killing activity by Wolbachia bacteria was discovered on the island of Samoa over a period of just five years. This rapid spread demonstrates the speed at which natural selection can act on specific traits.
The Clean Air Act was passed in the year 1956 to reverse the dark moth population in Manchester. This legislation reduced soot pollution and allowed light-colored moths to regain their advantage, proving natural selection responds to environmental changes.