the village minister may be suffering from bewitchment. This begins the Salem Witch Trials. Before all is said and done, nearly everyone (seemingly) is accused, over 150 are formally arrested and imprisoned, with 19 executed. 5 men and 14 women, most are hanged, one is crushed to death under stones while refusing to confess, and several more die in prison.

1904. The Japanese launch a successful surprise attack on the Russian Naval Base at Port Arthur. This commences the Russo-Japanese War. The immediate attacks badly damage the two heaviest battleships of the Russian Asian Fleet (keep in mind that this is pre-aircraft carrier days, and the battleships were the most important ships of any fleet). Subsequently, the Japanese launch additional attacks, then a blockade of Port Arthur, and thena siege, with Port Arthur subsequently falling to hte Japanese. A relief fleet sent by Russia sails from the Baltic to the area, a trip of 18,000 miles (because the British refuse to let it use the Suez Canal), only to have the Japanese spot the fleet, cross teh T, and inflict a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Tsushima. President Roosevelt negotiates a treaty between the Russians and Japanese at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which results in the Treaty of Portsmouth.

The impact of this war was significant. It was the first defeat of a European power by an Asian country in the modern era, and resulted in significant Russian surrenders of territories/claims in Korea, Manchuria and Sakhalin Island. It also greatly weakened the Tsarist leadership in Russia, which