Commentaries by Brian T. Hodges

On August 19, 1692, 5 people - four men and a woman - were executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. Learn more about the Salem Witch Trials.

On August 19, 1960, US spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Soviet Union after being convicted of espionage. Powers was captured and tried by the USSR after his U-2 was shot down while flying a mission over Soviet airspace. In 1962, Powers was returned to the US as part of a prisoner exchange agreement. Learn more about the spy plane incident from the US Department of State.