July 10, 1925: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called Scopes
Monkey Trial began with John Thomas Scopes, a young
high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution
in violation of the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law.

The law, passed in March, made it a misdemeanor punishable
by fine to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine
Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead
that man has descended from a lower order of animals.”

The trial became a national spectacle, with prominent figures
like Clarence Darrow defending Scopes and William Jennings
Bryan assisting the prosecution.

John Thomas Scopes(1900 – 1970) the teacher
on trial for teaching evolution.

Defense attorney Clarence Darrow, left, and
prosecutor William Jennings Bryan speak
with each other during the trial.