Fun facts about Charles Darwin and some myths and misconceptions about his writing

1. He was born on the same day as Abraham Lincoln. On 12 February 1809, Charles Darwin was born to the doctor, Robert Darwin, and Susannah Darwin (whose maiden name was Wedgwood – she was the daughter of the potter Josiah Wedgwood). Abraham Lincoln also arrived in the world on the same day. Lincoln and Darwin also both died in the same month, April (but on different days and in different years – and, indeed, from very different causes). Darwin’s grandfather was the physician Erasmus Darwin. Darwin would also marry into the Wedgwood family – his wife, Emma, was his cousin.

2. Darwin wasn’t the first to propose a theory of evolution. There were many attempts, prior to Darwin’s theory of natural selection, to explain how living creatures may have developed over time, but none of them…