Darwin Day: 12th February

Every year scientists throughout the world celebrate Charles Darwin's birthday: 12th February. There is a campaign to have 12th February declared Darwin Day in honour of the great man's achievements, and The Beagle Project Pembrokeshire is fully behind the aims of Darwin Day. In fact, we can think of no better day than 12th February 2009 as the launch date for our replica of HMS Beagle: 200 years to the day since the great man was born in Maer, Shropshire.

Check out the Darwin Day website. Don't just mentally blow out candles, get involved: ask your biology teacher, lecturer, local museum or library if they'll stage an event to mark the achievements of Charles Darwin, and if they won't, think about organizing one yourself. It could be a talk by a local biologist or historian, a display about Darwin's Voyage on HMS Beagle and his theory of evolution, a Darwin Memorial Beetling Walk in the countryside (that's what Darwin did while at Cambridge University) looking at beetles and other wildlife.

Don't let another 12th February go by without celebrating the life and achievements of one of the greatest scientists ever to live.