360Charles Darwin
In 60 words
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection explained how living things change over generations. His ideas grew from a five-year voyage around the world on HMS Beagle, including a visit to the Galápagos Islands. He published On the Origin of Species in 1859. It became the foundation of modern biology.
Darwin was born in Shrewsbury on 12 February 1809. In 1831, aged 22, he joined HMS Beagle as a naturalist, collecting fossils, plants and animals in South America, the Galápagos and beyond.
Back in England, he spent more than 20 years developing his theory. He published it in 1859 after the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace reached similar ideas. Darwin is buried in Westminster Abbey.