Atrios pointed out that today is the 80th anniversary of the indictment of John T. Scopes. His crime? Teaching the theory of evolution to students in his science class contrary to the wishes of the Tennessee legislature. The New York Times has a print of the original story, entitled Scopes Is Indicted in Tennessee for Teaching Evolution.
I’m sure glad we no longer let religious beliefs create artificial blind spots to our scientific observations.
Update: I was advised that today is also the 44th anniversary of President Kennedy’s State of the Union address wherein he said:
First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations–explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon–if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.
We no longer go to the moon, but we’re still monkeying around with evolution in the class room.
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