Moments in Time – May 29, 2024

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• On June 10, 1692, Bridget Bishop became the first person executed for witchcraft during the notorious Salem witch trials, after a trial lasting eight days. She had already been accused and declared innocent a decade prior to the hysteria.
• On June 11, 1509, England’s King Henry VIII married the first of his ill-fated wives, Catherine of Aragon. When she failed to produce a male heir, he divorced her against the will of the Roman Catholic Church, triggering the country’s Protestant Reformation. Catherine spent her last years in isolation and continued to consider herself England’s rightful queen until her death.
• On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen forced his way into Pulse, one of Orlando’s biggest nightclubs, and opened fire with an assault rifle on the predominantly gay crowd. Forty-nine people died and dozens more were injured in what was then the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
• On June 13, 1805, having hurried ahead of the main body of his expedition to the Pacific with fellow explorer William Clark, Meriwether Lewis and four other men arrived at the Great Falls of the Missouri River, confirming that the party was headed in the right direction.
• On June 14, 1922, at the dedication of a memorial site for Francis Scott Key, composer of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Warren G. Harding became the first American president to have his voice transmitted by radio while addressing a crowd. It was not until three years later, however, that a president (Calvin Coolidge) would deliver a radio-specific address.
• On June 15, 1300, poet Dante Alighieri was elected one of six Priors (magistrates) of Florence, Italy, his native city. His political activities, which included the banishment of several of his rivals, led to his exile from Florence and separation from his family for 15 years, during which time he wrote his most famous work, “The Divine Comedy.”
• On June 16, 2012, China launched the Shenzhou-9 space capsule on a mission that included the country’s first female astronaut, military pilot Liu Yang. The crew spent a week at the Tiangong space lab to test systems and conduct experiments.

© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.