Charles Darwin, known for his theory of evolution, would have celebrated his 210th birthday Tuesday. Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection came to be the base for modern evolution study. He's commonly referred to as the Father of Evolution for his theories.
He was born in 1809 to a family that was well off in England at the time, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. He was the second son and one of five children total to his father, a doctor, and his mother who was from a well-off family. His mother died when he was just eight years old.
After studying at university he took on voyages around the world during which he started developing his theory of evolution and natural selection. His tour around the world and exposure to different species made him question the way species develop and die out. He spent years adding to his theory and developing it further before it was finally introduced in 1872, 10 years before his death.
His work had a lasting impact on the sciences and the understanding of humans and other species.
Six quotes from Charles Darwin:
"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life," he wrote in a letter to his sister in 1836.
"A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives - of approving of some and disapproving of others," he said about the difference between humans and other animals.
"Man selects only for his own good; Nature only for that of the being which she tends," he wrote in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
"If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week," he said, according to The Autobiography of Charles Darwin.
"We stopped looking for monsters under our bed when we realized that they were inside us."
"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find out no such case," he wrote in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
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