A Service of Kilgore Trout University   
  
John Scopes   Mike Myers aka Wayne
Today – Dayton Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes was formally indicted 86 years ago for violating the state’s Butler Act which prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools. Hired in 1924 as the Rhea County High School Football Coach, Scopes also served as a substitute teacher filling in when one of his fellow faculty members was absent. Hoping to “put Dayton on the map,” a group of local boosters convinced Scopes to claim he’d taught evolution – this following an offer from the America Civil Liberties Union to finance the defense of the first person charged with teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Soon, the entire nation knew of Dayton, Tennessee and the “Scopes Monkey Trial”  where two of the nation’s legal giants squared off, with Clarence Darrow for the defense and William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution. Scopes was found guilty of the crime and ordered to pay a fine of $100. The law banning the subject of evolution in Tennessee classrooms remained on the books until 1967. Following his conviction, Scopes admitted he’d probably never taught evolution or served as a substitute science teacher.

Birthday Boy - Mike Myers, aka Austin Powers, aka Wayne  Campbell, aka Shrek, aka Dr. Evil, aka the Cat in the Hat was born 48 years ago today in Ontario, Canada. As a comic, his genius lies in resurrecting the outrageous adolescent persona trapped inside most Western males still yearning to have their finger pulled, fart in public and party hearty with their best friend and his collection of skin mags in the basement of their parent’s home. Which is how and why most women detest* the antics of Wayne and Garth  -- especially when it’s time for the monkeys to fly from your butt. (*Although Shrek’s farts are okay because he’s so cute and cuddly.)