BRIDGET BISHOP ~ On this date in the year 1692, a woman named Bridget Bishop was hanged on Gallows Hill in Salem, Massachusetts, after being found guilty of the crime of Witchcraft. She was the first person to be publicly executed in the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Accused, tried, and executed for being a witch, Bishop was known to enjoy a drink or two, operated two taverns in town, and enjoyed the game of shuffleboard. She had been widowed twice.

She was bold, outspoken, independent, self-supporting, and liked to wear fine clothes (notably, a "red paragon bodice bordered and looped with different colors" and lace). She was said to have a sharp tongue. Bishop didn't fit into her society's notions of how a "good" woman should behave and her neighbors feared and resented her as a result. Though Bishop was the first to be executed in Salem, she was not the last. Take a moment today to remember her, and celebrate the differences you see around you instead of fearing them.