William Jennings Bryan, 65, dies in this sleep 90 years ago this hour (July 26 1925)


Video: 'Scopes Monkey Trial FULL' (July 26, 1925, 1:07:58)

(Sunday, July 26, 1925, 4:45 p.m. EDT) — Just five days after winning a conviction in the Scopes Trial against John T. Scopes for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in Dayton, Tennessee (the verdict was later overturned), prosecutor William Jennings Bryan died today of a heart attack at age 65.

Bryan was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1896, 1900 and 1908 (losing all three times; to Republicans William McKinley in 1896 and 1900 and William Taft in 1908) and served as Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1915).