Darwin Publishes Origin: Evolution Changes Everything
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species on November 24, 1859, after 20 years of accumulating evidence. The entire first printing of 1,250 copies sold out on the first day. Darwin had delayed publication for years, partly from caution and partly from awareness of the controversy it would cause. Alfred Russel Wallace forced his hand by independently developing a nearly identical theory of natural selection. The book presented evolution through natural selection in careful, accessible prose, supported by evidence from geology, comparative anatomy, embryology, and biogeography. Darwin deliberately avoided discussing human evolution. The public debate that followed, including the famous 1860 exchange between Thomas Huxley and Bishop Wilberforce, transformed not just biology but humanity's understanding of its place in nature. Within two decades, the scientific community accepted evolution as fact.
November 24, 1859
167 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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