Who Were the Victims of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts?

Salem, Massachusetts, is arguably one of the top Halloween capitals in the country.

Visitors can wander several metaphysical shops (including the oldest, Crow Haven Corner), go on ghost tours, explore museums like the Witch House, Witch Museum, Peabody Essex Museum and the House of the Seven Gables, check out filming locations for the Halloween cult classic Hocus Pocus, and of course, look around at all the visitors and street performers dressed in costume for the holiday. There's no shortage of fun things to do in Salem.

All that said, the entertainment and tourism of Witch City often overshadows how the community came to have its cultural identity: the Salem Witch Trials. During the course of the hysteria in 1692, 20 people were executed as a result of witchcraft accusations. Several others died in jail. History isn't pretty, and it's important to take a moment and recognize that.

So, what do we know about the victims of the trials? There seems to be more information out there about some than others. Several of these people have obtained special notoriety through various means, as well. For instance, John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are characters in Arthur Miller's popular play The Crucible, while Giles Corey is known for both his appearance in the play, and torturous death by pressing. Regardless, all twenty of these people deserve recognition, so let's take a moment to learn more about them.

Who doesn't love french fries, right? Here are some of the best places to enjoy a basket of fries in the Granite State.