Salem Witchcraft Trials begin.

(Feb.) After several girls complain about unexplainable physical maladies, charges of witchcraft are brought against more than 100 members of the community. On June 10, 1692 [2], Bridget Bishop becomes the first of 20 people executed, all of whom are hanged except for Giles Corey, who is “pressed” to death by large stones. Although they are among the 37 people put to death for witchcraft in New England between 1620 and 1725, M.A. Howe later writes, “The wonder is not that we hear so much of the early American witch-killers, but how little we hear about those in Europe.” There, some 30,000 are executed in England and Scotland, 75,000 in France, and 100,000 in Germany during the 16th and 17th century.