This day in history: Skies clear in time for Soap Box Derby Race, which turns out to be serious business for these kids

From 1975: Rainstorms threatened to cause the cancellation of the 1975 Soap Box Derby Race, but the skies cleared, and the young racers went zipping down the Thor Street hill.

The race was far more sophisticated than it was in the early days, when the cars were made out of soap boxes. Some of the cars during 1975’s race were aerodynamically sculpted, some with “custom interiors.”

A few were perhaps too sophisticated.

“His dad did it all,” one 9-year-old said in a voice dripping with disdain.

The rules said there should be no help from adults, but that was widely ignored. Some cars even had business sponsors.

Other cars were clearly cobbled together by their young drivers. One car “resembled a small canoe.”

Eric Fehr, 11, emerged victorious, and earned the right to compete in the national finals in Akron, Ohio.

From 1925: The famous Scopes trial about whether evolution could be taught in schools was taking place in Ohio and dominating local front pages.

In Spokane, the president of the state’s Bible Fellowship, declared that if evolution was being taught in Washington, “this state is in need of a law similar to the law of Tennessee,” which banned such teaching.

“Supposing scientists are successful in proving that man evoluted from monkeys,” the fellowship president said. “Then comes the question, from what did the monkeys evolute?”