Clarence Darrow, left, and William Jennings Bryan at the
Scopes trial in 1925 (AP) 

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
a Tennessee state law.

The law, which had been 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.”

Schoolteacher John Thomas Scopes (center), 24, of Dayton, Tenn., stands before Judge Raulston just before he was
found guilty of teaching evolution and fined $100 on July 21, 
1925, at the end of the Scopes Monkey Trial held at the
Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton. (Chicago Tribune) 

TIM MAGUIRE

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 a Tennessee state
law.

The law, which had been 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.” With local
businessman George Rappleyea, Scopes had conspired to get
charged with this violation, and after his arrest the pair enlisted
the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to organized
a defense.

Hearing of this coordinated attack on Christian fundamentalism,
William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential
candidate and a fundamentalist hero, volunteered to assist the
prosecution. Soon after, the great attorney Clarence Darrow
agreed to join the ACLU in the defense, and the stage was set
for one of the most famous trials in U.S. history

.

ROSS SIMPSON

Charles Robert Darwin ( February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1832)

On this day in 1831, English naturlist Charles Darwin set out on a
voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. His discoveries
during the voyage helped him form the basis of his theories on
evolution.

HMS Beagle, a 10-gun, Cherokee-class brig sloop of the Royal
Navy’s survey service, sets sail from Plymouth, England on its
second voyage as a survey vessel. On board, at the invitation
of Beagle captain Robert FitzRoy, is a young biologist called
Charles Darwin.

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking
scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, was published in
England. Darwin’s theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through
a process he called “natural selection.” In natural selection, organisms
with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variation,
thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species.

Darwin, who was influenced by the work of French naturalist Jean-Baptiste
de Lamarck and the English economist Thomas Mathus, acquired most of
the evidence for his theory during a five-year surveying expedition aboard
the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. Visiting such diverse places as the Galapagos
Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the
flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information, along with his
studies in variation and interbreeding after returning to England, proved
invaluable in the development of his theory of organic evolution.

Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1882)