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Birth
Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in the tiny mechant town of Shrewsbury, England. -
His Family
Darwin’s mother, Susanna, died when he was only 8 years old. He came from a long line of scientists. His father, Dr. R.W. Darwin, was as a medical doctor, and his grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, was a renowned botanist. He was cared for by his three elder sisters. -
Early Pursuits
Darwin was far more inclined to study natural history. As a child of wealth and privilege he loved to explore nature. -
Education
At the age 16, Darwin enrolled at Edinburgh University along with his brother Erasmus. Two years later, Charles Darwin became a student at Christ's College in Cambridge -
Late Education
Darwin studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and theology at Cambridge University. He received a bachelor's degree from Cambridge in 1831. -
Inspiration
Here he was shown the conservative side of botany by a young professor, the Reverend John Stevens Henslow, while that doyen of Providential design in the animal world, the Reverend Adam Sedgwick, took Darwin to Wales in 1831 on a geologic field trip. -
10th Place
Charles Darwin managed to be in 10th place in the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1831. -
The Beginning of an Adventure
From 1831 to 1836, an beginning of an adventure began as Darwin served as a naturalist with a British scientific expedition aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. -
The Revolutionary Theory
Darwin formulated his bold theory in private in 1837–39, after returning from a voyage around the world aboard HMS Beagle, but it was not until two decades later that he finally gave it full public expression in On the Origin of Species (1859), a book that has deeply influenced modern Western society and thought. -
Marriage
Emma Darwin was an English woman who was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, three of whom died at early ages. -
Barnacles
Publishes Geological Observations on South America. October begins work on barnacles. -
The Book
On November 24, 1859, he published a detailed explanation of his theory in his best-known work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. -
His Death
Examining the death of Charles Darwin brings up some interesting observations. He suffered a fatal heart attack on April 19, 1882, after having had suffered a few heart attacks in the prior years. He also had problems with his stomach and often had bouts of nausea, both symptoms related to heart problems.