Scopes "Monkey" Trial

E4973

United States legal history event criminal trial landmark court case legal case

The Scopes "Monkey" Trial was a landmark 1925 American legal case in which high school teacher John T. Scopes was prosecuted for teaching evolution, symbolizing the national clash between modern science and religious fundamentalism.

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All labels observed (7)

Label	Occurrences
Scopes Monkey Trial	39
Scopes Trial	24
Scopes "Monkey" Trial canonical	7
Scopes Monkey Trial (fictionalized)	3
Scopes "Monkey" Trial (as attorney for the defense in appeals)	1
Scopes "Monkey" Trial public debates	1
Scopes evolution trial	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T79028 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Scopes "Monkey" Trial
Context triple: [American Civil Liberties Union, notableCase, Scopes "Monkey" Trial]

A. Ministries Trial
The Ministries Trial was one of the subsequent Nuremberg war crimes trials, prosecuting high-ranking officials of Nazi Germany’s government ministries for their roles in planning and executing aggressive war and other crimes.
B. United States v. Nixon
United States v. Nixon was a landmark 1974 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited presidential privilege and compelled President Richard Nixon to release the Watergate tapes, reinforcing the principle that not even the president is above the law.
C. All Hail to Massachusetts
"All Hail to Massachusetts" is the official state song that celebrates the history, pride, and heritage of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
D. Case Blue
Case Blue was the German Wehrmacht’s 1942 summer offensive on the Eastern Front aimed at seizing the oil-rich Caucasus and advancing toward Stalingrad during World War II.
E. Notorious RBG
Notorious RBG is the popular cultural nickname for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating her as a trailblazing feminist icon and champion of gender equality.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Scopes "Monkey" Trial
Target entity description: The Scopes "Monkey" Trial was a landmark 1925 American legal case in which high school teacher John T. Scopes was prosecuted for teaching evolution, symbolizing the national clash between modern science and religious fundamentalism.

A. Ministries Trial
The Ministries Trial was one of the subsequent Nuremberg war crimes trials, prosecuting high-ranking officials of Nazi Germany’s government ministries for their roles in planning and executing aggressive war and other crimes.
B. United States v. Nixon
United States v. Nixon was a landmark 1974 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited presidential privilege and compelled President Richard Nixon to release the Watergate tapes, reinforcing the principle that not even the president is above the law.
C. All Hail to Massachusetts
"All Hail to Massachusetts" is the official state song that celebrates the history, pride, and heritage of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
D. Case Blue
Case Blue was the German Wehrmacht’s 1942 summer offensive on the Eastern Front aimed at seizing the oil-rich Caucasus and advancing toward Stalingrad during World War II.
E. Notorious RBG
Notorious RBG is the popular cultural nickname for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating her as a trailblazing feminist icon and champion of gender equality.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States legal history event ⓘ criminal trial ⓘ landmark court case ⓘ legal case ⓘ
appealCourt	Tennessee Supreme Court ⓘ
appealOutcome	conviction overturned on technicality ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
court	Criminal Court of Tennessee ⓘ
date	1925 ⓘ
defendant	John T. Scopes ⓘ
defendantOccupation	high school teacher ⓘ
defenseAttorney	Arthur Garfield Hays ⓘ Dudley Field Malone ⓘ
endDate	1925-07-21 ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	Scopes Trial ⓘ linked to: Scopes "Monkey" Trial Scopes evolution trial ⓘ linked to: Scopes "Monkey" Trial State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes ⓘ
historicalSignificance	key event in the evolution–creationism controversy ⓘ landmark in American cultural history ⓘ
issue	constitutionality of anti-evolution laws ⓘ teaching evolution in public schools ⓘ
jurisdiction	State of Tennessee ⓘ linked to: Tennessee
lawInvolved	Butler Act ⓘ
leadDefenseAttorney	Clarence Darrow ⓘ
legalCharge	violating the Butler Act ⓘ
legalTheme	academic freedom ⓘ separation of church and state ⓘ
location	Dayton, Tennessee ⓘ
mediaCoverage	extensive national press coverage ⓘ
mediaInnovation	one of the first U.S. trials broadcast on radio ⓘ
organizedBy	American Civil Liberties Union ⓘ
participant	Clarence Darrow ⓘ John T. Scopes ⓘ William Jennings Bryan ⓘ
popularCultureDepiction	1960 film "Inherit the Wind" ⓘ play "Inherit the Wind" ⓘ
prosecutedPerson	John T. Scopes ⓘ
prosecutor	William Jennings Bryan ⓘ
sentence	$100 fine ⓘ
sponsor	American Civil Liberties Union ⓘ
startDate	1925-07-10 ⓘ
state	Tennessee ⓘ
subjectMatter	interpretation of the Book of Genesis ⓘ teaching of human evolution ⓘ
symbolizes	conflict between modern science and religious fundamentalism ⓘ debate over evolution in education ⓘ
verdict	guilty ⓘ

How these facts were elicited