This year marks the 200th anniversary of one of the weirdest and most reality-shifting moments in science. On Feb. 20, 1824, at the annual meeting of the Geological Society in London, the world was introduced to the very first dinosaur: the megalosaurus.
Life-size prehistoric dinosaurs at Britain’s Crystal Palace Park. Heritage Images/Getty Images
Before a packed crowd, Oxford geologist William Buckland shared details of a creature unlike anything “civilized” society had ever dared imagine. It was so new, even the word “dinosaur” hadn’t been coined yet; that would take another 18 years.
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