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Darwins Birth
Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 Feb 1809 in the town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. -
Evolutionary Theory's Beginnings
Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had journals containing early ideas of homology - a similarity in genetics or structure between two species that implies a common ancestor. These journals played a role in the culmination of Charles' Evolutionary Theory. -
Voyage of the Beagle
At 22, Darwin received an invitation to join the HMS Beagle's crew as a naturalist for a trip around the world. For 5 years the Beagle sailed around the coast of South America, allowing Darwin free access to the Galapagos Islands. He wrote dozens of notebooks filled with observations of the native animals and plants as well as collected thousands of specimens that were sent to England for study. Darwin called the Beagle Voyage "by far the most important event in my life." -
Presenting: Natural Selection
Darwin's theory of evolution via natural selection is presented to the Linnean Society in tandem with a paper written by Alfred Russel Wallace titled: “On the Tendency of Varieties to depart indefinitely from the Original Type” Which very much mirrored Darwin's hypothesis but was written nearly 20 years after Darwin's, at the time unpublished, work "On the Origin of Species". -
Publication of Evolution
After the publication "On the Origins of Species" the scientific community was divided. At the time Darwin was too sick to speak in a public forum but shared his opinions and rebuttals through letters, essays, and articles. -
Social Darwinism
During the Industrial Revolution, Social Darwinism came onto the stage as a way to explain the differences between the social and economic classes. the theory that human groups and races are subject to the same laws of natural selection as Charles Darwin perceived in plants and animals in nature. Social Darwinism led to labor abuse as well as further racism and social inequality. -
Darwin's Death
Charles Darwin passed away in his home, the Down House, in London in 1882. His theory on Natural Selection and how it has shaped our planet have stood the test of time and shifted the view point of many since its publication. -
References & Videos
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London :John Murray, 1859. See this Youtube video for a brief explanation of Natural Selection - https://youtu.be/aTftyFboC_M