Profile of the Day: Charles Darwin

On this day in 1882, Charles Darwin died at his home, the Down House, in Kent at the age of 73. Considered to be one of the most influential scientific minds in history, Darwin’s work transformed the world’s understanding of nature.

Image: Charles Darwin / Library of Congress

Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in his family home, The Mount, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The fifth of six children, Darwin came from a line of physicians and scientists. His father, Robert Darwin, was a doctor, while his paternal grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was a physician, naturalist, and a leading thinker of the Enlightenment.

In 1859, Darwin published On the Origin of Species, which outlined his theory of evolution through natural selection. By 1870, much of the scientific community would come to accept evolution as a fact.

Darwin died at his home on April 19, 1882 and he was buried in Westminster Abbey. It was reported that his last words were to his wife, Emma: “I am not the least afraid of death. Remember what a good wife you have been to me. Tell all my children to remember how good they have been to me.”

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