Pope Innocent VIII authorizes Germany witchcraft prosecutions

Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus on December 5, 1484, authorizing Dominican friars and witch hunters Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.

The prosecutions would later give rise to the 1486 publication of Kramer and Sprenger’s Malleus Malificarum (“Hammer of the Witches”) which prescribed torture as a way to coerce confessions out of suspected witches. Historians view the text as having promoted a misogynistic witch craze in late medieval Europe.

Read the full papal bull.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Sweden becomes first nation to ban aerosols

On January 29, 1978, Sweden became the first country to outlaw aerosol sprays. The ban was enacted to address the harmful effects of aerosols on the Earth's ozone layer. Read about aerosol sprays and the ozone layer of Earth's atmosphere from NASA.

Patty Hearst's prison sentence commuted by President Carter

On January 29, 1979, kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst's seven-year prison sentence for bank robbery as a member of the Symbianese Liberation Army was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. Hearst was later pardoned by President Bill Clinton.

US Army kills 250 Native Americans in Bear River Massacre

250 Northern Shoshone men, women, and children were killed on January 29, 1863 by the US Army in what is now the state of Idaho. The army attacked a Shoshone camp after meeting resistance to westward expansion, and the army fired indiscriminately during the attack. Learn more about the Bear River Massacre.