One of the earliest documented instances of misfortune came 716 years ago on Oct. 13, 1307, when French King Philip IV accused the Knights Templar, a fearsome group of warriors of the Temple of Solomon, of a wide range of offenses, including heresy and blasphemy. In the early-morning hours, the king’s soldiers arrested hundreds of Templars, who were then tortured, according to “The History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages,” an 1887 book written by Henry Charles Lea.
