Fun Facts About Charles Darwin
- Charles Darwin ate exotic animals for most of his life. On the Beagle voyage he ate puma, iguanas, giant tortoises, and armadillos, and by mistake ate a rhea he meant to study.[1]
- Before proposing, Darwin listed the pros and cons of marriage in two columns, "Marry" and "Not Marry," noting that a wife would be "better than a dog anyhow" as a companion.[1]
- Darwin neglected his medical studies at Edinburgh because he found surgery distressing. Instead he learned taxidermy from John Edmonstone, a man freed from slavery.[1]
- Darwin's father sent him to Cambridge as the first step toward becoming a country parson. Darwin preferred riding and shooting to studying.[1]
- The only form of "evolve" in the first five editions of On the Origin of Species is its last word, "evolved." Darwin added the word "evolution" only in the 1872 sixth edition.[1]
- Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood, and whenever their children fell ill he feared they had inherited weaknesses from inbreeding.[1]
- Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day, February 12, 1809.[1][2][3][4]
- Charles Darwin was alive at the same time as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk — their lives overlapped for 1 year (1881–1882).[1][2][5][6]
Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.[1]
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Questions About Charles Darwin
When was Charles Darwin born?
Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, and died on April 19, 1882.
How old was Charles Darwin at death?
Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, and died on April 19, 1882, at age 73.
What was Charles Darwin known for?
Charles Darwin was known for: Theory of evolution by natural selection. Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
Who was alive at the same time as Charles Darwin?
Charles Darwin's closest contemporary was Victor Hugo. Their lives overlapped for 73 years.
Sources
- Charles Darwin — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Charles Darwin (Q1035) — Wikidata
- Abraham Lincoln — Wikipedia
- Abraham Lincoln (Q91) — Wikidata
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk — Wikipedia
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Q5152) — Wikidata
- Portrait: Charles Darwin portrait.jpg — Wikimedia Commons. Herbert Rose Barraud, Public domain