Charles Darwin is one of the most prominent and influential people known in human history. Charles Darwin developed a theory of evolution from natural selection and made a significant contribution through his book On the Origin of Species.
Apart from being an influential author, geologist, scientist and naturalist, he also had a very intriguing personality.
Here are some of the lesser-known facts about Charles Darwin that you need to know:
- Charles Darwin shares his birthday with Abraham Lincoln
Darwin and Lincoln were both born on the same day. That is February 12, 1809. This seems fascinating because both shared similar life incidents such as, both Darwin and Lincoln were followers of Abolitionism and both experienced the loss of their young child.
- Darwin was in a romantic relationship
During his teenage days, Darwin was involved in a serious romantic relationship with a girl named Miss Fanny Mostyn Owen. This was revealed in the series of letters that Darwin received from Fanny that he kept to the end of his life. However, the couple eventually did part ways because Darwin allegedly didn’t pay enough attention to their relationship.
- Darwin was a college drop-out
Charles Darwin went to the University of Edinburg from 1825-1827 to study medicine on his father’s wishes. But soon he dropped out and instead went to the University of Cambridge to study Arts. Darwin always preferred self-education instead of the conventional model of the education system.
- He married his first cousin
Years after ending his relationship with Fanny Mostyn Owen, Darwin married his first cousin Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and had ten children with her. He commented on the dangers of having kids in “consanguineous” marriages. Three out of their ten children died and others were left with serious health illnesses.
- Darwin was hesitant to publish his work “The Origin of Species”
Darwin’s greatest contribution to humanity, that is, the theory of evolution was in his book The Origin of Species of which Darwin was hesitant to publish. He was uncertain about the implications of his research and findings of the origin of humans. He wasn’t sure how humans will react to knowing they are descendants of the apes. Hence, his consciousness took him 20 years to finally publish his work.
- Darwin learned the Art of Taxidermy
Taxidermy is the art of creating lifelike representations of animals by cleaning, preparing and stuffing the skins of dead animals. He learned the skill from John Edmonstone, a formerly enslaved man. Darwin learned the skill in a 40-hour long session.
- Darwin’s The Beagle Voyage gave rise to his work “The Origin of Species”
Charles Darwin set sail on the ship HMS Beagle on December 27, 1831, from Plymouth, England. Darwin was twenty-two years old when he was hired to be the ship’s naturalist. Five years of physical hardship and mental rigour on the voyage exposed him to Brazilian Jungles where he spent considerable time collecting plant and animal species for the study of his later work.
- Darwin converted from a devoted Christian to an agnostic
Darwin struggled with the idea of religion and God throughout his life. Hence, his personal religious journey was quite complicated. Darwin was raised in a Christian family and was a devoted Christian, but as he grew up his faith in religion changed. Especially, when he went on the voyage and met different people with different religious beliefs. Darwin was not an atheist but rather, he was an agnostic. An agnostic is a person who believes that God is unknown. The two main incidents that made Darwin lose faith in God and religion were his father’s death and then his 10-years old daughter’s death.
Darwin was a vigorous young man, a traveller, a thinker. It is so fascinating to see how a man can be so influential for so many years.
“A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, – a mere heart of stone.”
– Charles Darwin
