The Scopes Trial was a famous American legal case in 1925.

It involved a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, who was accused of violating a Tennessee state law that made it illegal to teach human evolution.

The trial was a deliberate test case, orchestrated by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to challenge the constitutionality of the law.

The trial took place in Dayton, Tennessee, and became a major national media spectacle.

It pitted two of the most famous public figures of the era against each other as lawyers.

William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate and a religious fundamentalist, argued for the prosecution.

Clarence Darrow, a renowned defense attorney and an agnostic, represented Scopes.

The trial highlighted the cultural conflict in the 1920s between religious fundamentalism and modern, secular science.

The climax of the trial occurred when Darrow called Bryan to the stand as an expert on the Bible and subjected him to a withering cross-examination.

Scopes was ultimately found guilty, but the trial is widely seen as a public relations victory for the cause of teaching evolution.