Portrait of Clarence Darrow

Birthday profile

Clarence Darrow

Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (died 1938)

Born
April 18, 1857
Died
March 13, 1938
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1857

About Clarence Darrow

Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and politician who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, the Scopes "monkey" trial, and the Ossian Sweet defense. He was a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a prominent advocate for Georgist economic reform. Darrow was also a well-known public speaker, debater, and writer. It was in the McHenry County Courthouse that Darrow successfully tried one of his first cases in January 1880. Also in 1894, Darrow took on the first murder case of his career, defending Patrick Eugene Prendergast, the "mentally deranged drifter" who had confessed to murdering Chicago mayor Carter Harrison III. Darrow soon became one of America's leading labor attorneys.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Clarence Darrow timeline

  1. It was in the McHenry County Courthouse that Darrow successfully tried one of his first cases in January 1880.
  2. Also in 1894, Darrow took on the first murder case of his career, defending Patrick Eugene Prendergast, the "mentally deranged drifter" who had confessed to murdering Chicago mayor Carter Harrison III.

The world when Clarence Darrow was born

Clarence Darrow was born in 1857. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineDred Scott decision — Supreme Court denies Black citizenship
  • Technology milestoneFirst passenger elevator installed (NYC)
  • World population~1.37B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJames Buchanan
  • U.S. population27.8M

1857 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Clarence Darrow's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18572026
Population27.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.