Scopes Found Guilty: Evolution vs. Faith Decided
A Dayton, Tennessee, jury took nine minutes to convict John Scopes of teaching evolution, imposing a $100 fine that defense attorney Clarence Darrow had invited specifically to create grounds for appeal. The trial's real verdict was delivered in the court of public opinion, where Darrow's devastating cross-examination of William Jennings Bryan exposed the intellectual weakness of anti-evolution arguments. Tennessee's Butler Act remained on the books until 1967, but no prosecutor dared enforce it again.
July 21, 1925
101 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on July 21
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King Berengar I and his Hungarian allies crush Frankish forces at Verona, capturing Louis III to enforce a brutal penalty: blinding him for breaking his oath. T…
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