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Charles Robert Darwin is Born
Charles Darwin was born in the market town of Shrewsbury, located in the county of Shropshire, England. He was the fifth child of six children. The father, Robert Darwin, was a wealthy society doctor and financier. -
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Darwin attends Cambridge
During the earlier weeks of first attending, Charles found that this "elite theological training institution" was much more favorable than his experience at Edinburgh University. Enrolled in a Bachelor's Degree in the Arts and Sciences. Charles believed that this route was a respectable career for a gentleman. In the words of Gilbert White, a famous pioneering naturalist, naturalists in England were clergymen, who saw it as a part of their duties to "explore the wonders of God's Creation". -
Charles Darwin goes to Cambridge University
Charles' father was not happy that he was not pursuing the career that he wanted. Since Charles would not become a physician like his father would have liked, Robert Darwin (Father) sent Charles Darwin to the Christ's College of Cambridge in 1827 (Cambridge University). -
Extramural Activities
Studying beyond the classroom was a necessary for Charles Darwin to succeed at Cambridge. Extramural activities such as debating or sports weren’t in Charles' “ballpark”. His interest were music, but his main passion was beetle collecting. Beetle collecting was the national craze during Charles’ time in England. -
Beetles become a distraction
More distractions occur while attending Cambridge however. During the summer, Darwin joined other Cambridge friends on a three-month “reading party” at Barmouth, a town on the coast of Wales. The original goal was to revise their studies, for Charles it was an “Entomo-Mathematical Expedition”. Charles needed to catch up on his mathematics, but the insect collecting predominated. -
The "HMS Beagle"
HMS Beagle was one of the 100 ships in it's same design, being a Cherokee-Class 10-gun brig-sloop. The Beagle's second voyage is notable for carrying Charles Darwin around the world. While surveying, Darwin researched geology, natural history and ethnology onshore. Returning from the journey, he gained fame for his published diary journal, best known as "The Voyage of the Beagle". -
"On the Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin is published
On the Origin of Species proved unexpectedly popular, with the entire stock of 1,250 copies oversubscribed when it went on sale to booksellers on 22 November 1859. -
Charles Robert Darwin dies
Buried in Westminster Abbey, closed to John Herschel and Isaac Newton.
