December 5th, 2008

Today in History

1484:
Pope Innocent VIII writes a Papal Bull that sets the inquisition into full swing and leads to the deaths hundreds of thousands of people accused of being witches

1776:
At the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Phi Beta Kappa is founded as the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.

1978:
The Soviet Union signs a 'friendship treaty' with the communist government of Afghanistan.

1873:
In Boston, Massachusetts, Warren Avenue Baptist Church sexton Thomas Piper strangles and beats to death his first victim, Bridget Landregan (the press later dubbed the then unknown serial killer "The Boston Belfry Murderer").

1974:
The last new episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus is broadcast on the BBC.