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)  

MIKE GRACIA

The New York "Lantern" newspaper published the first "Uncle Sam cartoon" on this day in 1852 and quickly became the symbol of the
United States. The editorial cartoon, “Raising the Wind; or, Both
Sides of the Story,” was drawn by Frank Henry Bellew (below). It
was used in criticizing U.S. policies on shipping.

 

Frank Henry Temple Bellew
(April 18, 1828 – June 29, 1888)

The Dunblane school massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School (above) near Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when Thomas Hamilton shot 16 children and one teacher dead before killing himself. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in British history
                                                                                                                                              

Public debate about the killings centered on gun control laws, including public petitions calling for a ban on private ownership of handguns and an official
inquiry, which produced the 1996 Cullen Reports. In response to this debate,
two new Firearms Acts were passed, which outlawed private ownership of
most handguns in Great Britain.

Thomas Watt Hamilton  (May 10, 1952 – March 13, 1996)

A memorial at the Dunblane primary school in Scotland, where a 43-
year-old former shopkeeper with four handguns stormed the school
gymnasium.

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1831, Charles Darwin (above) set out on a
voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin’s
discoveries during the voyage helped him form the basis
of his theories on evolution.

The British naval vessel HMS Beagle.

James Barrie’s play "Peter Pan" premiered in London
on this day in 1904.

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet (May 9, 1860 – June 19, 1937)  

Historical newspaper report on “Peter Pan”.

Peter Pan statue by Sir George Frampton in Kensington
Gardens, London.