On This Day In 1925, The Unthinkable Happened In Tennessee

It was on June 10th, 1925, that the state of Tennessee adopted a new textbook for their biology students. Set to be taught in high schools, this was the book heard 'round the nation when it caught John T. Scopes in the act of denying state approved curriculum. What did the textbook teach, you ask? Well, it denied the theory of evolution, and ignited a trial that made the United States take notice. You may be thinking - hey. Wait. JUNE tenth? Yep. June 10th was when the textbook was adopted, and the trial began a mere month later, on July 10th. The more you know.

John T. Scopes was a young science teacher in Dayton who decided, against current state law, to teach outside the textbook frame - proposing evolution and a form of creation theory.

The law made it illegal 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 the lower order of animals."

As you can imagine, this lit a flame on both sides of the argument. The ACLU got involved extremely quickly, employing Clarence Darrow as the defense attorney.

On July 21st, Scopes was found guilty. He was forced to pay $100 for his crimes, earning him a misdemeanor and a lot of time spent in court.

In 1927 the verdict was overturned on technicality. It's still a widely debated topic amongst those both religious and not in the southern states, a realm most commonly associated with mixing church and government proceedings.

Below you can find an overview of the trial, provided by the Historic Films Stock Footage Archive.

What a fascinating, fascinating thing. Leave us your thoughts in the comments below regarding the Scopes Trial - we're insanely curious.