Best Of 2025: A Century Ago, The ‘Scopes Monkey Trial’ Shook The Nation. The Stakes Are Still High.

Best Of 2025: A Century Ago, The ‘Scopes Monkey Trial’ Shook The Nation. The Stakes Are Still High.

A century ago, the eyes of the nation turned to a small Tennessee town, where a populist Democrat sparred with a burgeoning activist group in a trial that would set the stage for decades of legal and academic battles.In July 1925, John Scopes stood trial for teaching his students at a Dayton, Tennessee, school that humans had evolved from other forms of life. At the time, teaching human evolution violated state law after the Butler Act was signe…