In what year was Origin of Species first published?

• A. 1776
• B. 1901
• C. 1859
• D. 1912

Answer: (C)

Knowing when Darwin’s Origin of Species was first published tests your recall of a pivotal moment in science history. The book appeared in 1859, published in London, and it formalized natural selection as the mechanism by which evolution operates. This publication built on the 1858 joint paper by Darwin and Wallace and brought the idea into sustained scholarly and public discussion, marking a turning point in biology.

Other years listed don’t fit because they correspond to different events: 1776 is tied to American independence, not this work; 1901 marks the beginning of the Nobel Prizes and other late-19th–early-20th century scientific developments; 1912 is simply a later year with no direct link to the book’s first publication.