It took 359 long years, but finally in 1992, the pope had to admit that the Earth does indeed revolve around the Sun. How long does it take to admit that plunging people into a river to see if they’re witches or not is somewhat coo coo? Well,…”only” 300 years.

Grace Sherwood was a healer, a midwife and a widowed mother of three sons. Her neighbors thought she also was a witch who ruined crops, killed livestock and conjured storms.

On July 10, 1706, the 46-year-old woman was tied up and “ducked” (dropped into a river) in what is now Virginia Beach. The theory behind the test was that if she sank, she was innocent, although she’d also likely drown.

She floated -apparently- proof she was guilty because the pure water cast out her evil spirit. After being hauled out and jailed, she lived quietly until her death at 80, Virginia’s only person tried by water for witchcraft and convicted.

That changed Monday (the 300th anniversary of the ducking) after a little magic from the governor. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine made the conviction disappear *poof!* by granting an informal pardon just before a re-enactment of Sherwood’s being dropped into the Lynnhaven River.

“With 300 years of hindsight, we all certainly can agree that trial by water is an injustice,” Kaine wrote. “We also can celebrate the fact that a woman’s equality is constitutionally protected today, and women have the freedom to pursue their hopes and dreams.”

At this pace, it will “only” take another 300 years to admit that gods are mythical creatures conjured by primitive humans to set to rest questions about their environment and origins their unenlightened minds could not possibly answer..