Darwin ate a new species before realising it was one. On the Beagle voyage his companions shot a rhea and had it for dinner; only then did he see it was the elusive lesser rhea, later named Darwin's rhea.

1834

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The event

• Darwin in the Galápagos1835 · Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. In September and October 1835 HMS Beagle spent about five weeks in the Galápagos, where the young naturalist Charles Darwin collected birds, plants and tortoises. He later noticed that mockingbirds and finches differed markedly from island to island. That puzzle helped lead him to natural selection, set out in 1859 in On the Origin of Species.

19th century

More amazing facts

• 1831 The artist of The Great Wave went by at least thirty names in his lifetime, more than any other major Japanese artist of his day. 'Hokusai' is just the best known.
• 1834 · 1840 · 1844 Russians once rioted over potatoes.
• 1834 Ketchup was once sold as medicine.
• 1835 · 1859 Darwin spent five weeks on the Galápagos in 1835, but did not publish On the Origin of Species until 24 years later.
• 1835 · 1910 Mark Twain came in and went out with Halley's Comet.
• 1835 In 1835 a New York paper 'discovered' winged people on the Moon.

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