1859 – Charles Darwin Publishes “On the Origin of Species”
1860 – The Great Debate At Oxford University
1871 Darwin Publishes “The Descent Of Man”
Darwin’s The Descent of Man (1871) argues that humans share a common ancestor with apes, shaped by natural and sexual selection, and explores the evolution of morality, intellect, and social instincts.
1871 – Darwin As Monkey
Front page of the French satirical magazine La Petite Lune by André Gill (1871?).
1874 – Charles Hodge Critically Examines The Theory Of Evolution In His Book What Is Darwinism?
“What is Darwinism?” is a significant work by Charles Hodge, a prominent 19th-century American Presbyterian theologian, published in the late 19th century. The book critically examines Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which laid the foundation for modern evolutionary biology
1894 Rudolf Virchow Suggests “Sheep Theory” As Alternative To Darwin
Professor Rudolph Virchow, a prominent anthropologist, spoke out against Darwin’s theory of evolution at a convention. Virchow argued that the “monkey theory,” as he called it, was no more plausible than a “sheep theory” and that it had hindered the progress of anthropology. He believed that races could not evolve from one another and that any changes observed were likely due to anomalies that became hereditary.
1904 – American Bible League – ‘Either The Bible Is The Literal Word of God, Or It Is Not.’
1925, March – Teaching Evolution Banned In Tennessee Schools
The governor of Tennessee, Austin Peay, signed the Butler Act into law on March 21, 1925135. This law, named after Tennessee House of Representatives member John Washington Butler, prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools throughout the state. The Butler Act specifically outlawed the teaching of “any theory that denies the divine creation of man and teaches instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.
1925, May – John Scopes Indicted For Teaching Evolution
John T. Scopes was arrested on May 7, 1925, in Dayton, Tennessee, for violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee law that prohibited the teaching of human evolution in public schools. Scopes, a 24-year-old high school science teacher and football coach, was charged after a group of local businessmen sought to challenge the law and bring publicity to their small town. Encouraged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which was looking for a test case, Scopes agreed to be the defendant, though he later admitted he wasn’t entirely sure he had actually taught evolution in class.
His arrest set the stage for what became the Scopes Monkey Trial in July 1925, a historic legal battle between famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, who represented the prosecution.