The statue of Charles Darwin in the main hall of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London. (Image: Shutterstock)
Darwin Day aims to inspire people to follow their intellectual curiosity. It urges us to investigate the truth through scientific means
Darwin Day 2022: Charles Darwin changed the world through his theory of evolution. His seminal work, On the Origin of Species (1859), argued that we all evolved from a common ancestor. February 12 is celebrated as Darwin Day to highlight his work and celebrate science. Below we share the history of the event, its significance and quotes by Darwin.
Darwin Day: History
Born on February 12, 1809 in an English town called Shropshire, Charles Robert Darwin was drawn to nature from an early age. He went on trips and documented the flora and fauna, fossils, of different places. This led him to write ‘On the origin of species through natural selection or the preservation of favorite races in the struggle for life’.
Darwin died in 1882. On February 12, 1909, the 50th anniversary of the publication of “On the Origin of Species” was celebrated at the American Museum of Natural History. Beginning in 1997, Professor Massimo Pigliucci of the City College of New York began to celebrate February 12 as Darwin Day. In 2015, US lawmaker Jim Hines introduced a resolution that resulted in February 12 being declared Darwin Day.
Darwin Day: Meaning
Darwin Day aims to inspire people to follow their intellectual curiosity. It urges us to investigate the truth through scientific means.
Quotes about evolution by Darwin
- From ‘On the Origin of Species’ (1859), Chapter 14
“From such a simple beginning, endless forms, the most beautiful and wondrous forms, have been and are being developed.” - From ‘On the Origin of Species’ (1859), Chapter 3
“I’ve called this principle of preserving any slight variation, if useful, the term natural selection.” - From ‘On the Origin of Species’ (1869 Edition), Chapter 3
“The phrase that Mr. Herbert Spencer of the Survival of the Fittest often uses is more accurate [than ‘Struggle for Existence’]and is sometimes just as useful.” - From ‘On the Origin of Species’ (1859), Chapter 3
“From the war of nature, of famine and death, immediately follows the most sublime object we can conceive, namely, the generation of the higher animals.”
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