Timeline: Charles Darwin 1809-1882

1809

Charles Darwin is born

Darwin was born in The Mount, Shrewsbury, United Kingdom

1831

Darwin earns his degree

Darwin was not fond of school. He often described how much he disliked it. He attended a medical school but soon dropped out without earning a degree. This really disappointed his father. However, in 1828 he began school at the University of Cambridge to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree. After three years, he earned his degree. Darwin even placed in the top of the class, which surprised many.

1831

Begins the Voyage on the Beagle

Shortly after earning his degree, Darwin sets sail on the Beagle. He took the job as a naturalist on the ship. The trip was about 5 years long and the conditions of the ship were said to be less than comfortable.

1836

Back Home

The Beagle has arrived back home and Darwin had lots of knowledge with him now. During the voyage, he kept in touch with a man named John Henslow. Within the notes he wrote to Henslow, Darwin included lots of observations he had encountered. These notes were later strung into a 31-page pamphlet. This pamphlet was published to Cambridge’s scientific community. This was a turning point in Darwin's career.

1859

Published On the Origin of Species (Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London: J. Murray, 1859.)

This may be one of the most important biological writings to this day. Hundreds of years later and we are still bringing the concepts of this writing into classrooms. Darwin talks about the concept of natural selection. This is where he observed the finches of the island and how their beaks evolved for natural selection. Darwin then created Darwinism, a theory of biological evolution. This really shook the scientific community and Darwin was greatly awarded for this.https://youtu.be/dfsUz2O2jww

1866

Darwinism dominates the views of the British Association

Darwin updated many editions of the document, On the Origins Of Species. During the time of the 6th edition, Darwinism began to flourish. Darwinism was the theory of biological evolution. This introduced the phrase, "survival of the fittest". Darwinism said that all species make small evolutionary changes based on their environment in order to compete for food and reproduce. In a few words, they evolved to survive.

1877

Cambridge bestows Darwin with an honorary doctorate of law

After barely completing school and disliking it, Darwin took large leaps not only for himself but for the entire science community. He now is the founder of Darwinism and has been published many times.

1882