On this day in 1836, Charles Darwin returned to England from his Beagle voyage, five years and three days after he set out. Darwin was twenty-two, recently (and barely) graduated from Cambridge, and headed for a career as a clergyman when he received an invitation to join the Beagle on what was intended to be a two-year science and survey expedition to South America. Although an enthusiastic hobbyist, Darwin had little formal training in science; he had been invited along more as a gentlemanly companion for Captain Fitzroy than for any contribution he might make to the mission ... FULL STORY »
