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Birth
Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall is born in London, England to Mortimer, an engineer and Vanne, an author. Goodall also has a sister, Judith, who shares the same birthday, though the two were born four years apart. -
early childhood
Jane loves animals even as a child. When she is just over one year old, her father gives her a toy chimpanzee, in honour of a baby chimpanzee born at the London Zoo. Friends warn her parents that such a gift will cause nightmares for a child. However, Jane loves the toy & names the chimp Jubilee, carrying it with her everywhere. Jane's dream to live in Africa & watch & write about animals stays with her. Although this is an unusual goal for a girl at the time, Jane's mother encourages her dream. -
Year 1952
ane finishes school and passes her Higher Examinations. Her family cannot afford to send her to university, so Jane will learn secretarial skills. In May 1953 Jane begins Queen’s Secretarial College in South Kensington. -
Traveling to Africa
To Africa"At the age of 23, Jane travels to Kenya by boat. She has a wonderful time seeing Africa and meeting new people, but the most important event of her visit is meeting famous anthropologist and palaeontologist Dr. Louis S. B. Leakey" -
Gombe
2 years after Jane first contacted Louis Leakey he sent her to Gombe Stream National Park and this marks the beginning of her study of chimpanzees which is still ongoing today. -
Chimps eat meat
Jane sees chimps eating meat for the first recorded time in the wild and later observes chimps hunting for meat which disproved the previous belief that chimps were vegitarians. -
Chimps uses tools!
The first recorded instance of toolmaking by nonhuman. In Tanzania's Gombe Park, a chimp, David Greybeard, stipped leaves off a twig then stuck it into a hole in a termite mound, left it there for a moment, then slowly pulled it out and ate the termites that had clung to the twig, He was using the stem as a tool to ‘fish’ for insects which showed his ability to modify an object for a specific purpose which was perviously thought to be something that only humans were intelligent enough to do. -
year of 1962
- The work of Jane in Gombe becomes well know to the scientific community and she is accepted at Cambridge University as a Ph.D. candidate, She is one of very few people to be admitted without a university degree.
- Some scholars & scientists give Jane a cold reception & criticise her for giving the chimpanzees names. "It would have been more scientific to give them numbers", they say.
- Jane has to defend an idea that might now seem obvious: that chimpanzees have emotions, minds and personali
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National Geographics
national geographics - Jane publishes her first article in National Geographic, "My Life Among Wild Chimpanzees." This brough alot of attention to her efferots in Gombe. -
The Kidnapping
Suddenly one night rebels from Congo came over the lake, kidnapping four students, and taking them away to an unknown location. They didn't know where they'd gone or who'd kidnapped them. It was absolutely devastating, and it could very well have brought the entire thing to a close. -
Year of 1965
- Jane earns Ph.D. in ethology , which is the study of animal behaviour.
- Also, National Geographic grants her funds for the construction of aluminum buildings at Gombe and with these first permanent structures on the site which became the Gombe Stream Research Centre.
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Polio invades Gombe
As Polio swept through Gombe chimps and human populations both took a hard hit. It is now know that Chimpanzees can get AIDS. It was even more traumatic because at that time Jane was pregnant with her son, and didn't realize at first that it was polio. It was just this one chimpanzee, Mr. McGregor, coming in, dragging both paralyzed legs. He was then totally unable to move, Others became sick then it was realized that Gombe faced a Polio epidemic. -
Son is Born
Janes son, Hugo, is born but is nicknamed "Grub". As a first time mother, Jane gets a much deeper understand of the chimpanzee mohters and the bond that they have with their offspring. Jane now personally understands the love they have from their children and the willingness to do anything to keep your child out of harms way. -
Jane Goodall Institute of Canada
Jane funds the Jane Goodall Institute of Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation. Some of the institutes goals are:
- Increase Canadian awareness of & compassion for the plight of endangered animals, with a focus on chimps.- Foster public understanding of the interconnected nature of the human, animal & ecological community.- Increase support for habitat & species conservation, particularly for wild chimps.- Promote activities that ensure the well-being of wild and captive chimpanzees. -
year of 1980 - Dereks Death
Chimp families Janes husband, Derek, passes away after loosing his fight to cancer. The autobiography, Through a Window, is dedicated to his loving memory. Devistated by the lose of her husband, Jane only drives herself harder in her dedication to the study and conservation of chimps.
