American courtrooms have long been stages for some of the nation's greatest dramatic performances, and the murder trial of Harry K. Thaw was no exception. .
When Thaw, the wayward son of a Pennsylvania industrialist, shot prominent architect Stanford White before dozens of theatergoers dining on the rooftop terrace of Madison Square Garden,. the subsequent trial became one of the most publicized events of the time. .
It had everything a made-for-the-tabloids affair could hope for: sex, money, jealousy, gambling, abuse, even a chorus girl and a red velvet swing. .
By all accounts, it was the Trial of the Century. Of course, the year was 1907, and the century had only begun. It would be nearly two decades before John T. Scopes would stand trial for teaching Darwinism, almost 30 years before Bruno Hauptmann would be tried for the kidnapping and murder of the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, and the better part of a century before O.J. Simpson would grimace as he struggled to pull on a glove in a Los Angeles courtroom. .
For the past 99 years, hardly a decade has passed without at least one high-profile case being promoted as the Trial of the Century. Yet while the issues and accusations of those trials varied, what made them riveting courtroom dramas-wealth, power, social conflict--is timeless. .
From the early part of the century to its final year, these cases have revealed the nation's fascination with the Achilles' heels of American folk heroes and celebrities, exposed the debilitating impact of racial hatred on society, highlighted society's efforts to absorb advances in science and technology, and illuminated the dark side of the quest for success and fortune. .
In many ways, the Trial of the 20th Century is a classification rather than a single event. For every trial that dramatically defined the law in one decade, a subsequent one has echoed its story line to refine or redefine the law in another time.