The Pendle Witches on This Day in History

This Day In History: The trial of the Pendle witches, one of England's most famous witch trials, began on this day in 1612. This trial led to the hanging of ten people, and the Lancashire area held a large 400th anniversary event to commemorate this event in 2012. This anniversary also set a record for the largest amount of people dressed as witches in one place.

Interestingly, there are still Witch laws on the books. There is an obscure law in Canada that makes it illegal to pretend to be a witch. Romania has a Witch Tax that goes after witches, fortunetellers, and astrologers. Saudi Arabia has a Magical Police Unit that goes after people who practice the dark arts. In one town in Delaware, you can't perform witchcraft. You can't even pretend to perform it. You also can’t cast magic spells; tell fortunes; read palms, leaves or crystal balls; practice divination or phrenology; or “deal with spirits” or you could be fined up to $100 and jailed for up to 30 days.

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