1925

Paris held a World’s fair, called the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. The style of art exhibited at the fair was called “Art Deco” after the fair’s name. Thus, the Art Deco style was born. Paris also held the world’s first Surrealist art exhibition this year.

This was also a crucial year for science, particularly in the United States. In March of 1925, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the Butler Act, which was a law that prohibited the theory of evolution from being taught in publicly funded schools in the State of Tennessee. In the summer of 1925, John Scopes, a substitute high school science teacher, was accused of violating the Butler Act and subsequently brought to trial. The trial itself became a sensation, with former presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan on the prosecution and Clarence Darrow, a famous defense attorney, arguing in defense of Scopes. The trial brought media from around the country, and was famously covered by H.L. Mencken, who famously dubbed it the “Monkey Trial.” It was also the first trial to be broadcast over the radio.

1925 was also the year that the world took a significant step towards World War II. While the war itself would not begin for over a decade, this is the year that Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship in Italy began. Until this point, Mussolini had more or less worked with existing institutions of the Italian government, but 1925 was the year that he declared himself “Il Duce” and took on dictatorial powers. Once he had done this, he steadily continued to consolidate power in his fascist regime.