Execution of Anna Göldi, Europe's 'last witch'
A maid beheaded for witchcraft in the Age of Reason
Anna Göldi, a maid, was accused of bewitching her employer's daughter and confessed under torture. She was beheaded in Glarus in 1782; the trial outraged enlightened Europe, and in 2008 the canton declared her innocent.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century
Did you know
One of Europe's last 'witches' was executed 30 years after Franklin caught lightning with a kite. Anna Göldi was beheaded in Glarus, Switzerland, in 1782; Franklin described his kite experiment in 1752. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1762 Accession of Catherine the Great — 20 years earlier
- 1764 Founding of the Hermitage — 18 years earlier
- c. 1768 Extinction of Steller's sea cow — 14 years earlier
- 1772–1795 Partitions of Poland — 10 years earlier
- 1783 Russian annexation of Crimea (1783) — 1 year later
Africa
- 1798 Battle of the Pyramids — 16 years later
- 1804–1903 Usman dan Fodio's jihad and the Sokoto Caliphate — 22 years later
- 1805–1848 Muhammad Ali becomes ruler of Egypt — 23 years later
Asia
- 1757 Battle of Plassey — 25 years earlier
- 1761 Third Battle of Panipat — 21 years earlier
Americas
- 1776 US Declaration of Independence — 6 years earlier
- 1787 US Constitution — 5 years later
- 1791–1804 Haitian Revolution — 9 years later
- 1803 Louisiana Purchase — 21 years later
Oceania
- 1768–1771 Cook's first voyage — 14 years earlier
- 1788 First Fleet arrives in Australia — 6 years later
Alive at the time
- Benjamin Franklin (aged 76)
- Catherine the Great (aged 53)
- George Washington (aged 50)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (aged 33)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (aged 26)
- Napoleon Bonaparte (aged 13)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (aged 12)
- Leonhard Euler (aged 75)
- Qianlong Emperor (aged 71)
- Frederick the Great (aged 70)