A little Darwin for your day.

Today is Charles Darwin's birthday. (Did you know that most of his works are digitized and readily available?)  And did  you know that he was born on the EXACT same date in 1809 that Abraham Lincoln was born? Two future geniuses in their own realms. (Or is it genii?)

In the quest to digitize Darwin, a few interesting things come up.

He is considered to have been a stronger abolitionist than even Lincoln was. Before it was cool. 

He kept a list of books to read. (Sound familiar?)

His kids drew all over his notes. He and his wife Emma had ten kids, six boys and four girls, all of whom filled the house in Kent, England, while he wrote his drafts of Origin of the Species. 

"Darwin had no real use for the original manuscript once galley proofs came back from the publisher. So one can imagine father Charles giving his kids the only worthwhile paper in the house to draw on. It seems flippant now, but at the time, it was perfectly normal."    

Open Culture

You can see a slideshow of his children's doodles and a short article in this New Yorker piece.