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Darwin Day 2025: Charles Darwin is credited for some of his major findings and observations about nature, evolution and species.
Darwin Day is observed on the naturalist Charles Darwin’s birth anniversary. (Image: Shutterstock)
Darwin Day 2025: In a bid to honour widely known naturalist Charles Darwin, his birth anniversary, which falls on February 12, is marked as International Darwin Day every year. Darwin famously published his work on evolution by natural selection in the book On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, followed by a series of other articles that he penned between 1858 and 1859.
Also known as the Father of Evolutionary Theory, Charles Darwin travelled the world for his zeal for nature, studying and observing various species and the environment and made significant contributions to science.
International Darwin Day: History
The foundation stone to establish an annual International Darwin Day was led by three Darwin enthusiasts, Dr Robert Stephens, Professor Massimo Pigliucci and Amanda Chesworth. While Stephens headlined the movement by motivating the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley to initiate the celebration in 1995, Prof. Pigliucci started organising annual Darwin Day events at the University of Tennessee in 1997.
In 2000, Amanda Chesworth joined Stephens to officially commence the Darwin Day program in New Mexico. Two years later, the Darwin Day program was reincorporated in California as the Darwin Day Celebration—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational corporation promoting public education about science. It also encouraged the celebration of science and humanity globally.
International Darwin Day: Significance
The day holds major significance in the wake of Charles Darwin’s inspiring findings that can influence people all over the world, pushing them to reflect on the importance of scientific thinking, nature, the origin of humanity, evolution and more. Darwin Day also inspires them to understand the value of following their curiosities, critical evaluation and intellectual honesty.
Darwin Day 2025: Key Facts
- Not many know that Charles Darwin was born on the same date as America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, on February 12, 1809.
- After a five-year-long voyage on HMS Beagle, Darwin discovered some invaluable research that majorly contributed to his theory of evolution and natural selection.
- After completing his world trip, Darwin started experiencing health issues like eczema, exhaustion, nausea, headaches and more. According to History.com, he contracted a parasitic illness that ultimately caused his death.
- Darwin’s 1871 publication, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex made a major suggestion about humans’ descent from apes. His claims, though, faced greater criticism; it ended up being one of his most influential books.
- Charles Darwin used the concept of a tree of life to explain the theory of evolution.
- The biologist’s evolutionary theory of natural selection came to be known as Darwinism.
Darwin Day 2025: Recalling the ‘Finest Discovery’
As Darwin believed, evolution is a slow and long gradual process which concluded that took over a very long period. Even 16 decades after Darwin elucidated his theory of the development of life, it is still counted among the finest ones, even though the scientific world continues to argue and debate the theory of evolution.
To begin with, scientists majorly questioned the foundations of Darwin’s evolution theory whereas evolutionary biologists are becoming more and more Darwinian in their outlook on species and evolution in general than before.
The non-acceptance majorly stems from inadequate empirical evidence and a limited understanding of the content of modern evolutionary theory. Another objection to the theory is the lack of a clear mechanism for how variations in traits were passed from one generation to another. It was not until the late 19th century that Gregor Mendel offered a formal explanation.
Apart from that, the heart of the debate remains over the evidence that humans evolved from apes. While biologists have mostly accepted the revolution theory, it is still being rejected via natural selection.
Despite all the arguments against Darwin’s theory, it remains one of the finest discoveries in the chapter of science that transcends beyond biology.
