science · 10 May 1925 · 99 years ago
In 1925, John T. Scopes was given a preliminary hearing before three judges. He had been arrested and charged under a new Tennessee's state law, the Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in public schools. Scopes had agreed to participate in a challenge to that law, with the support of local leaders in Dayton, Tennessee, and the American Civil Liberties Union. A few weeks later, on 10 Jul 1925, the trial began, which became known as the “Scope's Monkey Trial”. At its end, on 25 Jul 1925, he was found guilty and fined $100. Although upon appeal the fine was ruled excessive and over-ruled, the state law itself was not found unconstitutional. Thereafter, the law was not enforced, but it was not repealed until 42 years later, on 17 May 1967.
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