Evolution \textit{versus} creation in the public school curriculum: History of the legal battles

In 2004, the school board of Dover, Pennsylvania, ordered Intelligent Design (ID) to be included in the Biology curriculum of Dover High School. Tammy Kitzmiller and ten other parents of Dover students filed suit in Federal Court contending that the Dover ID policy constituted an establishment of religion prohibited by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The six-week trial in fall 2005 made national headlines. The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The Kitzmiller case cannot be understood properly without knowledge of the legal landscape and the history of court cases of similar kind. It is the purpose of this contribution to provide this background. Thus, I will review the 80+ year history of the controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution \textit{versus} creation in public schools.