HMS Beagle pulled into this harbour on 2 Oct, 1836 carrying Charles Darwin. What he had seen in his travels would lead to the foundations of modern biology.

Today is Charles Darwin’s 206 birthday, and I crossed his path by accident last October in Falmouth, UK. Darwin left for London (and home) from a building in Portsmouth that still stands. It’s an HSBC Bank branch now, but on that Sunday in 1836, it was a coaching inn.

The building that Darwin left for London from on Sunday 2 Oct. 1836.

You can see the historical marker on the corner of the building, and a closeup of it is below.

Dans pic October 2015.

Darwin would spend the next 22 years working on his theory of natural selection, and since it’s publication in 1858, it has been tested countless thousands of times and it has been verified in every one. He is also the only famous scientist which has an award named after him, but trust me you do not want to win one!