July 21
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1925
John T. Scopes found guilty of teaching evolution
On this day in 1925, John T. Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution in Tennessee, a violation of the stateâs Butler Act. Scopes had been encouraged to challenge the law by the ACLU, which viewed it as unconstitutional. During the circus-like Monkey Trial, the defense undercut the prosecutionâs reliance on biblical text. Although Scopes and the ACLU technically lost the battle, many believe that they won the war by presenting public evidence for evolution.
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© Bettmann/Getty Images; Photo Illustration EncyclopÊdia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.15
Napoleonâs Army of Egypt used a new military tactic, the massive divisional square, to defeat the Egyptian forces of MurÄd Bey this day in 1798 at the Battle of the Pyramids during Napoleonâs Egyptian campaign. [How much do you know about Napoleon?]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure only death can stop it.
American writer Ernest Hemingwayâfamous for his adventurous life and lucid, masculine prose, for which he earned the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literatureâwas born this day in 1899 in what is now Oak Park, Illinois.
Famous Birthdays
More on July 21
© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
2024
Following his poor performance in a nationally televised debate with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Pres. Joe Biden announced that he was ending his reelection bid; he became the first president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to not seek reelection.
Kim Shiflett/NASA
2011
The U.S. space shuttle program ended, after 135 missions, as the orbiter Atlantis landed at NASAâs John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about space exploration.]
PictureLux/age fotostock
2007
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in J.K. Rowlingâs Harry Potter series, was released. [Take our quiz about childrenâs authors.]
Image: EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1987
American heavy metal band Guns Nâ Roses released the landmark album Appetite for Destruction, which sold more than 17 million copies. [Test your knowledge of musical forms and styles.]
iStockphoto/Thinkstock
1983
The worldâs lowest recorded temperature, â128.6 °F (â89.2 °C), was measured at Vostok Station, Antarctica. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Antarctica.]
© Mark GoffâBettmann Archive/Getty Images
1972
Comedian George Carlin is arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and profanity for his monologue âSeven Words You Can Never Say on Television,â in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [Learn more about the history of political humor in the United States.]
Photoworld/FPG
1967
Albert John Luthuli, president of the African National Congress (1952â67) and the first African to be awarded a Nobel Prize for Peace (1960), died, reportedly after being struck by a train, although that narrative has been challenged. [Take our quiz about the Nobel Prize.]
NASA/Johnson Space Center
1961
Virgil I. (âGusâ) Grissom became the second American to enter space during Project Mercury. [Test your knowledge of famous astronauts and cosmonauts.]
Keystone/FPG
1960
Politician Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the worldâs first woman prime minister when she took office in Ceylon (later Sri Lanka). [Take our quiz about female leaders.]
Image: EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1954
The Geneva Accords effectively divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Southeast Asia.]
Kurz & Allison/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-pga-01843)
1861
The First Battle of Bull Run (called First Manassas by the South) was fought during the American Civil War. [How much do you know about the American Civil War?]
Image: EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1774
The Treaty of KĂŒĂ§ĂŒk Kaynarca was signed at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768â74.
Novosti Press Agency
1613
Michael Romanov was crowned tsar of Russia, founding the Romanov dynasty. [Take our quiz about Russian history.]