In what year was Charles Darwin born?

Charles Darwin was born in 1809. He was born on 12 February at The Mount, his family's home in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.

Darwin was the fifth of six children of Robert Darwin, a wealthy physician and financier, and Susannah Darwin, a member of the prominent Wedgwood family. His family encouraged an early interest in collecting insects, minerals, shells, and other specimens—habits that helped shape his later career as a naturalist.

He first studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh but found surgery and medical lectures unappealing. He later attended Christ's College, Cambridge, where he developed stronger interests in natural history and geology. His formative scientific journey came aboard HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836.

The year 1809 is easy to confuse with other important Darwin dates. On the Origin of Species was published in 1859, exactly fifty years after his birth, and Darwin died in 1882. His birthday, 12 February, is also commemorated internationally as Darwin Day.