The History of Guillotines Pt.1

The idea for a guillotine was proposed in 1789 by Doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, from whose name the word "Guillotine" derives. Suprisingly, this man was actually in favor of abolishing the death penalty in France- after failing at that- he proposed that everyone be put to death by a simple beheading machine, one that would end the lives of criminals quickly and with less pain. As at the time, the most common executions were boiling, burning, beheading via axe, and low drop hanging. All of which created extreme pain in the victem.

The first machines were built by German engineer Tobias Schmidt, they consisted of two large vertical posts, about 14ft high, with a crossbar connecting them at the top. Though the main focus of the machine was a weighted blade held up by a pulley system and rope. 

It was first tested on corpses, giving him the idea for a bowl to collect the dropped head and spilt blood! On April 25, 1792, and the lovely criminal who got the pleasure of testing the machine first, was a convicted robber and murderer Nicholas-Jacques Pelletier.

In 1793-1794, a period which was accurately nicknamed "The Terror", the newly formed french government killed thousands of people that were thought to be against the revolution. All of which were carried out by Guillotine.

Come back for pt.2