Did the Salem Witch Trials really happen?

The Salem Witch trials were a string of prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. The people who were found guilty were executed by hanging. The trials began after people had been accused of witchcraft. After someone concluded that loss, illness, or death had been caused by witchcraft, the accuser entered a complaint against the alleged witch with local magistrates.

If the claim was deemed to be credible, the magistrates had the person arrested and brought in for public examination. It would be an interrogation where the magistrates pressed the accused to confess. A person could be cited on charges of causing pain and suffering from witchcraft, or for making an unlawful covenant with the devil.