Dark Stories: On This Day In True Crime History - Dark Stories True Crime Tours

1692: Five Hanged at Salem in a Single Day for Witchcraft

On 19 August 1692, five people were executed by hanging at Salem, Massachusetts, after being convicted of witchcraft: Martha Carrier, George Jacobs Sr., George Burroughs, John Willard, and John Proctor. The executions were among the most notorious of the Salem witch trials, a period of mass hysteria that gripped colonial New England.

Fourteen more people would be executed before the year was out, and 150 others were imprisoned. The Salem trials remain one of the darkest episodes in early American legal history.

Painting of two alleged witches being tried in Salem, Massachusetts as part of the infamous witchhunts.

⬅ See all events from 19 August

Execution Historical Atrocity Massachusetts New England Political Crime Salem Trial USA

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1865: John Wesley Hardin Gunned Down in an El Paso Saloon

John Wesley Hardin was one of the most feared gunfighters of the American Old West. Born in Texas in 1853 to a Methodist preacher, he killed his first man at 15 and spent the following decade evading lawmen across the South. Sentenced to 24 years for murder in 1877, Hardin claimed to have killed 42 men, though historians estimate the true figure exceeded 20. He studied law in prison and wrote a self-aggrandising autobiography, widely noted for its exaggerations.

Within a year of his 1894 release, Hardin was shot dead by constable John Selman in the Acme Saloon in El Paso. Hardin had been gambling, rolling dice at the bar, and his last words were reportedly “Four sixes to beat.” Moments later, Selman walked up behind him and shot him in the head. Hardin was 42 years old.

Portrait of outlaw John Wesley Hardin

⬅ See all events from 19 August

Gang Murder Organised Crime Prison Trial USA

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1786: Britain Decides to Dump Its Criminal Class on the Far Side of the World

In 1786, Britain faced a crisis of its own making. Decades of the so-called bloody code had swollen the criminal class with petty offenders, American independence had slammed shut the old dumping ground of the colonial plantations, and the gaols were bursting. The solution settled upon was audacious: ship Britain’s unwanted more than 15,000 miles to New South Wales, a coastline only recently mapped by Captain Cook, who had praised the land around Botany Bay.

Over the next 80 years, more than 160,000 men and women were transported to Australia and Van Diemen’s Land. Transportation meant total erasure: the loss of home, family, and identity, followed by a brutal sea crossing and survival in an utterly foreign land. Yet for many, the far side of the world offered something the old country never would: a second chance.

First Fleet ships entering Sydney Harbour 1788 illustration

⬅ See all events from 18 August

Australia Colonial History England NSW Organised Crime Political Crime Prison Transportation UK

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1857: Alexander Cullen Hanged at Campbell Street Gaol for the Murder of Betsy Ross

Betsy was known to frequent the Red Lion Tavern in Liverpool Street and was living with Cullen in a house behind the tavern. On the night of the murder, witnesses saw her drinking at the Red Lion before she later returned towards the area with Cullen.

Cullen had lost his wife only a few months earlier and was supporting his young daughter. His landlord described him as sober, hardworking and careful with money, saying Cullen would sometimes explain how much he had earned, pay half towards the rent, and keep the rest “to feed the child.”

Later that night, Betsy was found dead inside their home with a bloodied tomahawk beside her. Cullen was arrested with blood on his hands and later admitted, “I have done it, and I am sorry for it.” He was convicted of murder andexecuted at the Campbell Street Gaol.

Alexander Cullen Hanged at Campbell Street Gaol for the Murder of Betsy Ross

⬅ See all events from 18 August

Australia Execution Murder TAS Trial

1692: Five Hanged at Salem in a Single Day for Witchcraft

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1865: John Wesley Hardin Gunned Down in an El Paso Saloon

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1786: Britain Decides to Dump Its Criminal Class on the Far Side of the World

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1857: Alexander Cullen Hanged at Campbell Street Gaol for the Murder of Betsy Ross

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Subscribe to Dark Stories