Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury. An English naturalist, Darwin sailed around the world as the naturalist on HMS Beagle, and his observations of fossils and wildlife, including the finches and tortoises of the Galápagos Islands, led him to the idea of evolution. He worked on his theory of natural selection for twenty years before publishing On the Origin of Species in 1859, which argued that species change over time through the survival of those best adapted to their environment. He later applied the idea to humans in The Descent of Man. His theory became the foundation of modern biology, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Before and after
- 4 January 1809Birth of Louis Braille
- 15 January 1809Birth of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
- 19 January 1809Birth of Edgar Allan Poe
- 3 February 1809Birth of Felix Mendelssohn
- 12 February 1809Birth of Charles Darwin
- 12 February 1809Birth of Abraham Lincoln
- 31 March 1809Birth of Nikolai Gogol
- from 10 April 1809 to 14 October 1809War of the Fifth Coalition
- 8 May 1809Battle of Piave River
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The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.