Grace Sherwood (c. 1660 – c. 1740), called the Witch of Pungo, is the last person known to have been convicted of witchcraft in Virginia. A farmer, healer, and midwife, she was charged with witchcraft several times. In 1706, she was accused of bewitching Elizabeth Hill and causing her to miscarry. The court ordered that Sherwood's guilt or innocence be determined by dunking her in water: if she sank, she was innocent; if she did not, she was guilty. Sherwood floated to the surface, and may have spent up to eight years in jail before being released. After being freed from prison and recovering her property from Princess Anne County, she lived on her farm in Pungo from 1714 until her death at the age of about 80. On July 10, 2006, the 300th anniversary of Sherwood's conviction, Governor Tim Kaine reversed the miscarriage of justice and restored her good name. A statue depicting her was erected in Virginia Beach, close to the site of the colonial courthouse where she was tried.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Sherwood
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1519:
Zhu Chenhao declared Ming emperor Zhengde a usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Ning_rebellion
1800:
Lord Wellesley, Governor-General of the British Raj, founded Fort William College in Fort William, India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_William_College
1942:
An American naval aviator discovered a downed Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island, Alaska, US, which was later rebuilt and flown to devise tactics against that type of aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akutan_Zero
1966:
Martin Luther King Jr. led a rally in support of the Chicago Freedom Movement, one of the most ambitious civil rights campaigns in the northern United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Freedom_Movement
2011:
The last edition of the British tabloid News of the World was published, closing due to allegations that it hacked the voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, victims of the 7/7 attacks and relatives of deceased British soldiers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_International_phone_hacking_scandal
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
exonerate: 1. (transitive, now rare) To relieve (someone or something) of a load; to unburden (a load). 2. (obsolete, reflexive) Of a body of water: to discharge or empty (itself). 3. (transitive) To free from an obligation, responsibility or task. 4. (transitive) To free from accusation or blame. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exonerate
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe. This idea is not novel. Men have been led to it long ago by instinct or reason; it has been expressed in many ways, and in many places, in the history of old and new. We find it in the delightful myth of Antaeus, who derives power from the earth; we find it among the subtle speculations of one of your splendid mathematicians and in many hints and statements of thinkers of the present time. Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic! If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic — and this we know it is, for certain — then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature. --Nikola Tesla https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
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