- History of Today
- Posts
- What happened on December 27th?
What happened on December 27th?
Charles Darwin started a voyage that changed the perception of life on this planet
Matthew Jones
December 27, 2024
1831 Darwin Sets Sail on a Five-Year Voyage
On December 27th, 1831, Charles Darwin joined the crew of the HMS Beagle that embarked from English waters to explore the geology of South America. It was a mission that would go around the world and take over five years to complete. During that time, Darwin studied the movement of land masses, the variances in similar species from different areas, and the fossil record from places such as Patagonia and the Galapagos Islands. Upon his return in 1836, Darwin began speculative theories about evolution, but wouldn’t publish the groundbreaking book On the Origin of Species until 1859.
The HMS Beagle
🗞️Today’s Headlines
Everything important that’s ever happened on December 27:
2007 ─ Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the first woman leader of a Muslim-majority nation in modern history, was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan by a 15-year-old suicide bomber.
1949 ─ After attempting to regain control of Indonesia after World War II and fighting a four-year battle against Indonesian independence groups, the Netherlands ceded sovereign rights of the islands to the United States of Indonesia.
1932 ─ Joseph Stalin reinstated an internal passport system previously denounced by Vladimir Lenin in order to track population flows and to prevent “socially undesirable” people from living in certain areas.
1801 ─ Napoleon reestablished his rule over the Republic of Lucca, in central Italy, which lasted for four years before Napoleon disbanded the government and established a new one under the control of his sister.
1512 ─ Ferdinand II established the “Laws of Burgos” to govern the treatment of Native Americans in Spanish-American colonies. The laws required Spaniards to give Native Americans a chance to submit before they were attacked.
🎂 Today’s Birthdays
On December 27, we’re singing to:
Johannes Kepler (1571) ─ German astronomer most famous for Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, which first theorized that planets’ orbits were elliptical rather than circular.
Louis Pasteur (1822) ─ French chemist and microbiologist who studied pathogens and developed the process of pasteurization to extend the shelf-life of milk and other foods.
Marlene Dietrich (1901) ─ German American actress who was one of the highest-paid film stars of the 1930s. A vocal anti-Nazi, Dietrich received the US Medal of Freedom and the French Légion d'honneur for her efforts during World War II.
Gérard Depardieu (1948) ─ Prolific French actor who has appeared in over 150 films and countless television shows and stage productions.
Timothée Chalamet (1995) ─ American actor who earned his first Academy Award nomination at the age of 22 and has starred in movies as diverse as Wonka and Dune.
🪦Who Died Today?
On December 27, we’re saying goodbye to:
Stephen Austin (1836) ─ US pioneer known as “The Father of Texas” after he moved 300 families into what was then Mexican territory.
Sergey Aleksandrovich Yesenin (1925) ─ Famous Russian poet long thought to have died by suicide at the age of 30 but perhaps was murdered by the Russian secret police instead.
How Am I Doing?
What do you think of the History of Today?Let me know what you think so I can be better 😀 |