This Day in History: 1832-10-19

While touring the country around the Dehra Dun valley, near the home base of the 2nd Goorkhas, Captain Cantley (Survey) and a Dr Falconer discovered ‘wonderful remains of prehistoric animals‘. Sometime later and during the construction of the Jumna Canal, Lieutenant Baker of the Royal Engineers was presented with a fossilized elephant’s tooth. This led to the blasting of the limestone and the discovery of many specimens.  All the best of these wonderful fossils may be seen at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington.