What is charles darwin famous for

Charles Darwin

English naturalist and biologist (1809–1882)

For other people named Charles Darwin, see Charles Darwin (disambiguation).

Charles Darwin

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Darwin, c. 1854, when he was preparing On the Origin of Species

Born

Charles Robert Darwin


(1809-02-12)12 February 1809

Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England

Died19 April 1882(1882-04-19) (aged 73)

Down House, Down, Kent, England

Resting placeWestminster Abbey
Education
Known forNatural selection
Spouse
Children10, including William, Henrietta, George, Francis, Leonard and Horace
Parents
FamilyDarwin–Wedgwood
Awards
Writing career
Notable works
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsGeological Society of London
Academic advisors
Author abbrev. (botany)Darwin
Author abbrev. (zoology)Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin ([5]DAR-win; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist,[6] widely known for his co

12 February 1809

Charles Darwin is born at The Mount, Shrewsbury, the fifth child of Robert Waring Darwin, physician, and Susannah Wedgwood.  

1817

Darwin's mother dies; his 3 older sisters take on maternal responsibilities. Darwin starts at Unitarian day school. 

1818-25

Darwin attends Shrewsbury School as a boarder. He hates the school, describing it as "narrow and classical".  

1825

Darwin is removed from school, being deemed unsuccessful, and spends the summer accompanying his father on his doctor's rounds. That autumn, he is sent to Edinburgh University, with his brother Erasmus, to study medicine.  

1826

Darwin joins the Plinian Society in Edinburgh. It is around this time that Darwin meets his most influential mentor at Edinburgh, Robert Grant.

1827

Abhorred by medicine, Darwin leaves Edinburgh without taking a degree. Darwin's father, anxious that he does not become idle, insists that Darwin take up clerical studies in Cambridge.

January 1828

After spending some time brushing up on his forgotten Greek, Da

The man who struggled with his own ideas

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection made us rethink our place in the world. The idea that humans shared a common ancestor with apes was a challenge to the foundations of western civilisation.

Darwin kept silent for 20 years before going public and was only half joking when he described writing his book 'On the Origin of Species' as 'like confessing a murder'. This is the story of one man’s struggle with the most radical idea of all time.

12 Feb 1809

Born into a free-thinking family

Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, the fifth of six children of wealthy and well-connected parents.

The young Charles had a quietly Christian upbringing, but his family life was one of openness to new ideas. His grandfathers had both been important figures of the Enlightenment: Josiah Wedgewood, industrialist and anti-slavery campaigner, and Erasmus Darwin, a doctor whose book ‘Zoonomia’ had set out a radical and highly controversial idea - that one species could 'transmu

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