On July 21, 1925, John T. Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution in the “Scopes Monkey Trial” in Dayton, Tennessee, and he was subsequently fined $100 plus additional costs.

Dayton’s “Monkey Trial” involved a lawsuit filed by the State of Tennessee against John T. Scopes for violating state law (Tennessee Education Code) when he taught evolution during a term at the Dayton public schools. The U.S. Supreme Court declared Scopes’ conviction violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

Interesting Facts about July 21, 1925

• The case of Dayton v. Scopes was decided by the Supreme Court on July 30, “Monkey Trial Day,” 1925.
• Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. delivered the majority opinion, written by President Calvin Coolidge’s attorney, Harlan Fiske Stone.
• The Court found that the Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution was an unconstitutional violation of freedom of speech and religion. Still, it stopped short of finding a fundamental right to teach evolution.
• Two-time Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, known as “the Great Commoner,” brought the trial on behalf of the people of Tennessee. (The trial occurred in Dayton because it was his hometown.)
• Darrow expected the issuance of a guilt judgment and was ready to appeal the decision to the Higher Court.
• The judges did not disappoint him; they found him guilty and fined him about $1300 current day money.
• Later on, the Tennessee Supreme Court justified the constitutionality of the statute. However, they canceled Scope’s conviction on complexity.
• Bryan died five days after the end of the Monkey Trial.
• The Butler Act, popularly known as the anti-evolution law, was known. This act remained in the books of Tennessee until its nullification in 1967.