The late Dame Jane Goodall observed a chimpanzee making and using tools on this day in 1960, causing a fundamental shift in how researchers understood the mental faculties of non-human primates. Just 26 years old at the time, Goodall was in Tanzania studying around 150 chimps when one she dubbed "David Greybeard" plucked leaves off a stick so he could use it to catch termites in their mound. Over time, it was discovered that they also use leaves to catch water and use stones to crack open nuts. Nowadays, we know apes are smart enough to even learn some sign language, but at the time Goodall's discovery was earth-shattering to scientists who had assumed they were a whole lot dumber.
Goodall, who had no academic credentials, made a discovery so significant that other researchers flocked to the Gombe Stream National Park she'd been working in. That research revealed even more about chimps, including how they structure their social groups and how different troops literally go to war. She would later receive a PhD from Cambridge University and founded a conservation group, the Jane Goodall Institute, in 1977. Goodall passed away earlier this year aged 91.
You can learn more about Goodall and her work in this obituary from the Guardian newspaper.
