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Charles Darwin sets sail on the HMS Beagle (December 27, 1831)
Very early on in his academic career, Charles Darwin had impressed and befriended many of the professors at Cambridge University. Because of his already established reputation of having a strong interest in the natural world, he was offered and invitation to participate in a voyage that would allow him to chase his follow his curiosity. At Just 22 years old, Charles Darwin departed from England aboard the HMS Beagle, who’s mission was primarily to chart the coastline of South America. -
Darwin arrives on the Galapagos Islands (September 16, 1835)
Nearly four full years into the voyage of the HMS Beagles, Darwin and his crew arrive at a chain of islands, called an archipelago, off the coast of Ecuador. These islands are known as the Galapagos islands, and became the birthplace of one of the most influential scientific theories to date. Upon arrival to the Galapagos islands, Darwin began collecting and studying the finches, a small bird species, on the different islands. -
Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
Nearly 20 years had passed since Charles Darwin concluded his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. Much had happened to him during this time. He had started a family, directed his studies to other subjects, and even began growing very ill. During all of this, his findings on the Galapagos still lingered in his mind, and he was slowly writing his book about his findings. He was pressured to complete his publication before he felt ready, as the were others beginning to publish texts with similar content. -
Death of Charles Darwin (April 19, 1882)
After a life-long battle with constant illness, Charles Darwin passed away on April 19, 1882, at 73 years old. He had left the world with one of the most prominent books ever written, a long with many other less-famous texts. His book On the Origin of Species did a lot more for the world than simply give a probable cause for why a species is the way that it is. It introduced new ways of viewing the history of the nature through scientific philosophy.