One of the most influential man, Charles Darwin is known for his remarkable contribution in the field of science and evolution. His radical Theory of Evolution published in the 1859 book On The Origin of Species and other ground-breaking studies shaped the modern life sciences. On his death anniversary, here are some of the lesser-known facts about the ‘Father of Evolution’:
1. Darwin shares the same birth date as America’s 16th president Abraham Lincoln. In fact, both were born on the same day, February 12, 1809.
2. Born in Shrewsbury, England, Darwin was raised as a Christian. He enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine as per his father’s wishes but soon realized that medicine was not for him.
3. He went to Cambridge University and graduated in the field of arts.
4. He was an amateur hiker and was passionate about collecting beetles. His interest in examining bio-diversity sprung from this hobby.
5. Darwin undertook the voyage for biology research tour around the world on the recommendation of his tutor in Cambridge.
6. This was the same five-year-long expedition during which he embarked as a naturalist and visited four continents between 1831 and 1836. He carried out research on several fossils, plants and animals which later contributed to his theory of evolution and natural selection.
7. Darwin married his first cousin Emma with whom he had ten children – three of his children died from illness, while others had health problems.
8. Darwin learned the skill of preparing and preserving the skin of animals by stuffing it, to give a life-like form by John Edmonstone, a freed slave, in 40 sittings of hour-long sessions.
9. Darwin was hesitant in publishing his work The Origin of Species, fearing the conscious implications of his study that claimed the human race is a descendant of apes. It took him 20 years before publishing it.
10. Darwin died on April 19, 1882, and was buried in Westminster Abbey in London alongside Isaac Newton.
