Everyone loves Charles Darwin's clean bean, the bean owned by Darwin that's very clean

We don’t know if you were aware, but someone gifted Charles Darwin approximately 392 dwarf kidney beans back in 1857… and, well, that’s about it to the story, we suppose. Perhaps you think that a minor detail in the life of such a monumental figure in the field of evolutionary biology and naturalism. You might even be a bit annoyed to open an article from us to learn that, yes, this is really and truly a story about some very old beans.

Honestly, we wouldn’t blame you—but just look at one of those li’l guys getting all polished and shiny and gussied up thanks to the conservationists at Cambridge University Library!

How cute is that? Those teeny polishers, the itty-bitty tweezers, and let’s not forget the star of the show: the nearly 165-year-old kidney bean!

Still a bit upset? Well, did you make sure your volume was turned on for the video? There’s some great squeaky sounds while the worker shines the chosen legume before its 3D digitization as part of Cambridge University Library’s ongoing Darwin Correspondence Project. That’s gotta be worth something, right?

Okay, look. To be honest, if your mood hasn’t improved from a two-minute video of bean cleaning, then we don’t know what to tell you. That’s on you, quite frankly. Like, everybody loves Darwin’s very clean bean. You don’t want to be that one person who says, “I dunno. It’s just a squeaky old bean to me, and there’s a lot going on in the world that’s been weighing on my mind lately, so this just seems kind of trivial,” right?

Well, fine. We did all that we could. We’re gonna go back and rewatch this very pleasant video of Darwin’s old kidney bean getting pampered. We would love it if you joined us, but no pressure.

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