On this night in science
Darwin sets sail
December 27, 1831
On this day in 1831, a ship called HMS Beagle sailed from England on a long voyage around the world, with a young naturalist named Charles Darwin aboard. For almost five years he collected plants, animals, rocks and fossils, and filled notebook after notebook with what he saw.
Why it mattered
What Darwin noticed on that voyage, especially how animals differed from one island to the next, helped him work out how living things slowly change over many generations.
Wonder together
If you went on a five-year voyage, what would you most want to collect?