The Verdict Is In: Famous Trials Through History
Instructions: From the Scopes Monkey Trial to the Nuremberg Tribunals, the courtrooms of history have witnessed some of the most dramatic — and consequential — moments of the 20th century. How well do you know the verdicts, the attorneys, and the stories behind them?
- 1.
The famous 'Scopes Monkey Trial,' in which a Tennessee schoolteacher was charged with illegally teaching evolution, took place in which year?
A1920B1925C1930D1932 - 2.
Which legendary defense attorney volunteered to represent John Scopes in the famous 1925 Monkey Trial?
AClarence DarrowBF. Lee BaileyCWilliam Jennings BryanDRobert La Follette - 3.
Which prominent politician — a three-time Democratic presidential candidate and gifted orator — joined the prosecution team in the Scopes Trial?
AHerbert HooverBRobert La FolletteCWilliam Jennings BryanDCharles Evans Hughes - 4.
The Salem Witch Trials — one of colonial America's darkest episodes of mass hysteria — took place in which year?
A1710B1650C1720D1692 - 5.
In which American state did the notorious Salem Witch Trials take place?
AMassachusettsBConnecticutCNew YorkDVirginia - 6.
The Nuremberg Trials brought Nazi leaders to justice after World War II. In which year were the verdicts handed down and sentences carried out?
A1945B1946C1947D1948 - 7.
Bruno Hauptmann was convicted in 1935 and executed in 1936 for what terrible crime involving one of America's most famous aviators?
AAttempted assassination of Charles LindberghBExtortion and blackmail of the Lindbergh familyCThe kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's infant sonDBreaking into and robbing the Lindbergh estate - 8.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953, becoming the first American civilians put to death during peacetime for what crime?
ATreason against the United StatesBMurder of a federal agentCCounterfeiting government documentsDConspiracy to commit espionage - 9.
In what year was O.J. Simpson found 'not guilty' of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, in a verdict watched by an estimated 100 million television viewers?
A1995B1993C1997D1999 - 10.
Who was O.J. Simpson's lead defense attorney, famous for the memorable courtroom phrase 'If it doesn't fit, you must acquit'?
AF. Lee BaileyBJohnnie CochranCMarcia ClarkDAlan Dershowitz - 11.
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants whose murder convictions sparked worldwide protests, were executed by electric chair in which year?
A1921B1923C1927D1931 - 12.
In 1895, the brilliant playwright and wit Oscar Wilde was tried, convicted, and sentenced to two years of hard labor in England for what offense?
ALibel against a British noblemanBFraud and financial deceptionCTreason against the CrownDGross indecency - 13.
The trial of Charles Manson and his followers for the shocking 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and others was held during which years?
A1970–71B1968–69C1972–73D1974–75 - 14.
During the Watergate scandal, President Nixon ordered the firing of the special prosecutor investigating him — an event the press called the 'Saturday Night Massacre.' Who was that special prosecutor?
ALeon JaworskiBArchibald CoxCSam ErvinDJohn Dean - 15.
The Egyptian cleric known as the 'Blind Sheikh,' convicted in 1995 in a New York federal court of seditious conspiracy for directing a plot to bomb American landmarks, was named what?
AKhalid Sheikh MohammedBRamzi YousefCOmar Abdel RahmanDAbu Musab al-Zarqawi