On 27th December 1831, Charles Darwin embarked on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin would visit the Galapagos archipelago which would help him put together the theory of evolution.
Though the theory is credited to Charles Darwin, it was also proposed by another naturalist, Alfred Wallace. In fact, Wallace had written a letter to Darwin detailing his theory. Darwin, even after many years, had not yet made any announcement or publication and the letter provided the much needed impetus to put the theory forward. The papers on evolution by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace were read to the Linnean Society in London on 1st July 1858, and the monumental work On the Origin of Species was published next year.
By the way, this was the second voyage of the ship – HMS Beagle had been launched on 11th May 1820.
