Once upon a time in medieval England, there was a young king who would do just about anything for his favorite night.

They were inseparable.

With love at the front of a king's mind, instead of war or ambition, you'd think the kingdom would be in for a golden

era of peace. But England is headed for the most catastrophic collapse seen for hundreds of

years. The saga continues, Join me Dan Jones on This is History, a Dynasty to

Die for. Available wherever you get your podcasts. In 1957, the General Court of Massachusetts issues an official resolve regarding a scandalous legal matter of the distant past,

one that occurred more than three centuries earlier. It declares the court's belief that, quote,

such proceedings, even if lawful under the province charter and law of

Massachusetts as it then was, were and are shocking, the result of a wave of popular hysterical fear of the devil in the community.

In a time when Dwight D Eisenhower is president, Elvis purchases Graceland and releases

Jailhouse Rock, when Jack Kerouac pens on the road.

Massachusetts is in a sense legally apologizing for the conviction and execution of

accused witches in 1692.

But they do not exonerate the women and men

who suffered this injustice.

That would be a struggle that would continue on

for many years to come. Good day listening public. I'm Don Wilden and you are tuned to American History hit.

Today we are way back in the long ago in Salem,

Massachusetts where one of colonial America's most notorious events transpired.

The subject of so many movies and books, even a classic Arthur Miller play probably is best.

It's the Salem Witch Trials, 1692 to 93, when a proper Puritan community lost its grip on itself,

became hysterical, paranoid for reasons we are

...