Thursday, July 21st
The 202nd day of 2005
There are 163 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On July 21, 1925, the so-called "Monkey Trial" ended in Dayton, Tenn., with John T. Scopes convicted of violating state law for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. The conviction was later overturned. (Go to article.)

On July 21, 1899, Ernest Hemingway, the American novelist and short story writer, was born. Following his death on July 2, 1961, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. Other Birthdays)

On July 21, 1900, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the vice-presidential nomination of former vice president Adlai Stevenson. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)

Reference: The New York Times



The following courtesy Iraq War Today

Today in History
1588 - The English fleet defeats the Spanish Armada.
1861 - The CSA is victorious at the first battle of Bull Run (Manassas), the first major battle of the Civil War.
1873 - Jesse James commits his first train robbery.
1898 - Spain cedes Guam to the U.S.
1930 - The U.S. Veterans Administration is established.
1940 - The Soviet Union annexes Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia.
1944 - U.S. forces liberate Guam from the invading Japanese.
1949 - The U.S. Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.
1954 - In Geneva, France agrees to independence for North and South Vietnam.
1955 - The Seawolf, the first submarine powered by a liquid metal-cooled reactor, is launched
1966 - Gemini X returns to Earth.
1969 - Neil Armstrong steps on the Moon at 2:56:15 AM (GMT)
1969 - Russia's Luna 15 impacts on the moon after 52 lunar orbits.
1973 - The U.S.S.R. launches Mars 4 for a fly-by of that planet.
1976 - 29 are killed in Philadelphia, in the first outbreak of "Legionnaire's Disease."
1978 - The U.S. Postal Service and the unions agree on a contract, averting a mail strike.
1983 - The Polish government ends 19 months of martial law; the U.S. announces that Lebanon has freed American hostage David Dodge
1984 - Harry Allen, a worker at Diecast Corp. in Jackson, MI, has the dubious honor of becoming the first person killed by a robot in the U.S. when he is pinned between the back of the industrial robot and a factory pole.

Holidays
Guam - Liberation Day (1944)

Birthdays
1804 - Victor Schoelcher, French humanitarian, sat on the commission that abolished slavery in France, later elected Senator for life.
1816 - Paul Julius Baron von Reuter, founder of Reuters news service
1856 - Louise Blanchard Bethune, first female American architect
1899 - Ernest Hemmingway, writer, Nobel Prize winner
1924 - Don Knotts, actor (Amdy Griffth Show, Three's Company)
19-- - My Mom - Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!
1947 - Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam, rocker ("Peace Train," "Father & Son")
1952 - Robin Williams, comedian

Passings
1796 - Robert Burns Scottish poet
1957 - Bernard Spooner, American inventor of the bulletproof jacket
1972 - Jigme Dori Wangchuck, King of Bhutan
1976 - Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British ambassador to Ireland, assassinated
1982 - Dave Garroway, TV host (Today Show)
1984 - Harry Allen, first human killed by a robot in the U.S.

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Tiffin, Rainford, USAF (CA); F105D shot down
1967
Flora, Carroll E., US Army (MO); CH47 shot down, released by PRG March, 1973 (injured)
1968
Flanagan, Sherman E., Jr., USAF - NG(MD); F100D shot down, believed to be the first Maryland National Guard member KIA, body not recovered
Willing, Edward A., USMC (DE); disappeared while on guard duty, presumed KIA, body not recovered
1970
Schultz, Ronald J., US Army (KS); presumed killed, body not recovered

Today's American Minute

The famous Monkey Trial ended this day, July 21, 1925, as John Scopes, a High School biology teacher in Tennessee was fined for teaching a theory of origins called evolution.

Williams Jennings Bryan, three time Democratic Presidential candidate, was the prosecuting attorney arguing against evolution.

Bryan objected to a tooth being presented as proof of humans evolving from apes. Later the tooth was admitted to be that of a pig.

William Jennings Bryan, who died five days after the trial, once stated: "I am interested in the science of government, but I am more interested in religion...and I shall be in the church even after I am out of politics."

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www.AmericanMinute.com